


The Reason for Strength

by IndulgentDiscourse



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Brief cameo from Taako, F/M, First Time, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Implied abuse, I’ve never written romance before and somehow the first ship I write is straight what HAPPENED, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Pre-Canon, Raven’s Roost, Slow Burn, explicit as of chapter 15, implied taako/sazed, rebellion fic, will get explicit in later chapters but I’ll let y’all know ahead of time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-02-11 15:04:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 45,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12937833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndulgentDiscourse/pseuds/IndulgentDiscourse
Summary: The small mountainous town of Raven’s Roost has been dealing with some internal unrest. The corrupt governor, Kalen, has been stirring things up for all the citizens in the town. But things don’t really start to get interesting until Julia Waxman finds Magnus Burnsides dazed and confused, with almost no memory of how he wound up at her feet, wandering in the woods outside of Raven’s Roost. This would spark a whole word of change, not only for Julia and Magnus, but the entire town.This is the story of the Raven’s Roost Rebellion.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so I’d like to formally apologize for the summary because I have no idea how to write one. 
> 
> Next order of business: I really want to thank my dear friend Madison, because she is the wine who I have been *writing this to*!! She is my dear proofreader and has been putting up with this story for months, often times coming into her messages at odd times and for hours on end. Thank you so much for everything!! <3 
> 
> Now: onto the story!

The cliffs of Raven's Roost came up out of a lush forest to the east, and fertile plains to the west. Herbalists made their living out of gathering their wares in the woods, craftsmen took down trees for their lumber, and farmers grew crops and livestock with ease.

It was the trees that Magnus Burnsides stumbled out of, scaring an unsuspecting young woman who was in the process of taking down an old oak that would have fallen down onto the dusty road to Raven's Roost. The woman yelped and wrenched her axe out of the trunk, holding it up menacingly and challenging the man.

"What do you think you're doing, running around here like a drunk? Didn't you see this tree is about to fall? You could have been smashed!"

Magnus didn't answer, too busy looking shocked from the shouting and the terrible pounding in his head.

(He could remember dreams of another young woman, one who never shouted, whose skin was darker and hair much shorter than this woman in front of him. He couldn't remember her face, and the details seemed to slip away from him as more time passed. Soon, all he could remember were her words whispered in his ear:   
_"You'll be safe here, Magnus. Go, and be happy."_ )

The young woman in front of him had stopped shouting, and instead was peering closely at his face.

"Wait a minute," she started. "I've never seen you around here before. Where did you come from?"

Her voice took on an accusatory tone, and the pounding in Magnus's head reached a blistering crescendo. Darkness flickered at the edges of his vision, and Magnus crumpled to the ground.

The young woman gasped as the strange man fell to the forest floor. She sheathed her axe in a holster on her hip, and crouched down to shake the man. He didn't stir at her touch, and when she lifted an eyelid, his eye rolled back in his head.

She bit her lip. She couldn't leave him for predators or Kalen's men to find. She gripped the man's arms and legs and threw him over her shoulder, starting the short trek to the wagon stopped on the side of the dusty road.

As she got closer, she called out to the man sitting in the driver's seat.

"Dad! Get the back opened up for me!"

Steven Waxman jolted at the sound of his daughter's voice and looked up from his carving, only to see her stepping out of the treeline with a man on her shoulder.

"Julia?" he called incredulously, "What's going on?" He jumped down, and made his way over to her, prepared to take the unconscious man from her.

"Don't bother," she huffed, "he weighs less than that log would have. Just open up the back for me."

Steven quickly pulled back the canvas as Julia unceremoniously dumped the man off in the wagon. He flinched as the man's head hit the floorboards with a clunk, but Julia didn't seem to care. She strode off to the front of the wagon and pulled herself up into the passenger seat. "I'll be back out to finish with that tree later," she called over her shoulder.

"Who is he?" Steven asked as he climbed up beside her and picked up the reins.

Julia flicked her hair out of her eyes. "No idea. Probably a drunk of some sort. I sure as hell haven't seen him around."

Steven flicked the reins. "Do you think he's a spy for the governor?"

"Maybe. Guess we'll find out."

The ride back to the Hammer and Tongs was quiet and tense. Steven picked up the still unconscious man and carried him out back to the small apartment behind the forge. Depositing the man on the bed, he sent Julia to bring some water for the man. Pulling up a chair from the desk in the corner of the room, Steven settled down for a long wait. As an afterthought, he frisked the man, and found a hunting knife. He placed it on the bedside table and put his chin in his hands.

At about midnight, Julia joined her father through his vigil, allowing her father to nod off every now and again. Around dawn, the young man began to wake. At the sounds of his stirring, Steven jerked awake. Julia was already awake, sitting on the desk.

Slowly, Magnus opened his eyes and looked around. He didn't recognize his surroundings, or the man sitting in front of him. He did, however, vaguely recognize the young woman sitting on a desk in the far corner. Magnus sat up abruptly, his instincts singing of danger and a need to fight. At his sudden movement, the young woman slid off the desk, and Magnus took the moment to appreciate just how sharp the duel axes in her hands were.

Magnus's head throbbed again. It must have shown on his face.

"Easy, son," the man sitting by his head advised. He put a calloused hand on Magnus's chest and gently pushed him back into the bed.

"Who are you?", Magnus croaked out. "Where am I? What's going on?"

The young woman must have out her axes away, because then her hands were filling a cup of water and handing it to Magnus. Parched, Magnus drank eagerly. As he did, the man and the young woman exchanged glances, and the man began to speak.

"I'm Steven Waxman, and this is my daughter, Julia. We're in the town of Raven's Roost. Julia found you in the forest outside of town, and you passed out. We took you to our home."

Julia refilled Magnus's cup and handed it back to him.

"Son, do you think you could tell us who you are? We've never seen you around before, and we don't get many outsiders around here."

Magnus took his time sipping his water before answering.

"My name is Magnus Burnsides, and to be completely honest with you, I have no idea how I got here."

Steven and Julia exchanged another glance.

"Well, what else can you tell us?", Julia asked. Magnus shook his head, looking apologetic.

"Not much, sorry. I don't remember how I got here, or where I came from, or..." He trailed off, beginning to look panicked. "I don't remember much of anything!"

Julia seemed lost in thought, but Steven smiled, gently and easily.

"That's alright, you might have hit your head, tromping around in the woods. For now, you can stay here with us, until you remember something else."

Magnus grinned. "Thank you so much!"

Julia took the cup back from Magnus. It didn't seem like the man could do much damage, as long as he was telling the truth and wasn't secretly a spy for the governor.

"Come on, big guy," she said, pulling the door open. "Let's get some food in you."

Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair, with Magnus eagerly eating everything set in front of him. In between bites, he asked about the Waxman's life.

"We're craftsmen," Steven explained. "At Hammer and Tongs, we have both a forge and a workshop for woodworking. I do most of the woodworking, and Jules prefers the forge."

Magnus seemed to get excited about this information.

"I like woodworking!"

Steven raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Magnus bobbed his head eagerly. "Yeah, and I'm kinda good at it."

Steven chuckled at his bravado. "Well, once we open up, how about you show me just how good you are?"

Magnus accepted his challenge.

Julia smiled and went to start heating up the forge before the shop opened for the day.

Magnus volunteered to do the dishes, and Steven went to check over his tools before opening. They were both interrupted by a knocking on the door. Steven opened the front door to reveal a man leaning in the doorway. Steven grimaced.

"Casta. What can I do for you?"

The man smirked and sauntered in the door, brushing past Steven and into the entryway.

"Haven't you heard? There's a tax on bandsaws with a length past a foot, fourteen gold pieces. It's time to collect."

Steven sighed and rubbed his temples. "There's no way I can keep up with these kinds of insane taxes."

Casta stalked around the room, looking at the pictures on the walls with a kind of feigned curiosity. "Well, I suggest coming up with something. Didn't you hear about what happened to the last carpenter who couldn't keep up with his taxes?"

Steven knew. Their shop had been burned down, and the owners beaten outside of it as their livelihood crumbled to ashes.

Steven shuffled his feet.

There was some cash stored away in a lockbox under his worktable, he had been saving up to get Julia something nice for her birthday. But he didn't know where else he would get the money from.

"Hold on," he sighed to Casta. He retrieved the required amount. Casta tucked it away in his pocket and grinned sharply.

“Thank you for your contribution to the community, Waxman. Say, where's Julia?"

Steven stiffened. "She's working in the forge." The sound of hammers striking iron began to ring out. Steven only hoped that Casta go the message; if he went inside, Julia was likely to throw a hammer or something molten at him.

Casta's sleazy smirk became fixed. "See you around, Steven."

With that, he slipped out the door, letting it bang shut behind him.

Steven rubbed his temples, before retreating to the workshop.

Little did he know that Magnus had watched the entire exchange from around the corner.

Frowning, he tossed the dish towel over his shoulder and made his way out to the forge. Carefully, he pushed open the door to the hiss of hot metal being quenched in water.

"Hey," he said, hoping he wouldn't surprise Julia.

She turned, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Hey," she greeted, placing her project on the anvil and taking the moment to pull her curly dark hair up away from her face.

Magus jerked a thumb back towards the main shop.

"Did you know there was a new tax on bandsaws with a length past a foot?"

Julia scowled and turned back to the hot metal. Picking up a hammer, and brought it down several times, her teeth gritted.

When the item had been pounded completely flat, she stuck it back in the fire. She turned to Magnus, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at one of the bellows.

"Pump that a few times," she directed. Magnus complied, and then she sat down on a stool and began to talk.

"About a year ago, governor Kalen was elected. And a few months ago, he started taxing the hell out of things. There haven't been many taxes on the craftsmen, but the few that here are on insane things. Like, a tax on bandsaws that are over a foot in length."

"The guy who came to collect was almost... threatening your dad."

Julia ground her teeth together.

"Yeah, they've started roughing up people who can't pay up. They're just a bunch of mercenaries who work for Kalen."

"Whoever they are, that's not fair! They can't just go around beating up citizens!"

Julia snorted. "You're telling me."

"Is there something that can be done?"

She shook her head.

"Not unless you want to be beaten to death. For now, all we can do is scrape by and keep our heads down."

Magnus could hear how much she hated that idea. Julia stood, brushing her hands on her pants.

"Time to get back to work. Go see if my dad needs anything, alright?"

Magnus nodded his assent, before heading to the door. Before he stepped out, he turned and waved to Julia.

"See you around, Julia."

"See you later, Magnus." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, from here on out I’m gonna post the rest of these once a week. Hopefully that’ll pressure me into writing more, and winter break is coming up, so once I’m done with my first semester of college, I’ll have a lot more free time to write. 
> 
> I hope y’all like this so far! I’m having so much fun writing it! Pleace comment if you can!

For Magnus’s first week in Raven’s Roost, he tried to make himself as useful as possible. He helped out around the house, helping Julia and Steven with their household chores. In the mornings, he helped Steven out in the workshop, moving around pieces of half-completed furniture to make room for another project, sanding down parts of different projects so Steven could get started on another one sooner.

In the afternoons, he strolled around the town, looking for work. Magnus didn’t want to be a burden on the Waxman family, they were already letting him stay in the apartment behind the forge until he got his feet under him, or his memories returned. But his memories showed no signs of returning to him. An entire chunk of his life was gone, lost to static. But he didn’t mind the new memories he was making, like the stray dog that licked his hand when he gave it half of his lunch, like grocery shopping at the marketplace with Julia, basket in hand.

In the evenings, he helped Julia in the forge, pumping the bellows when she asked, and shoveling more coal and wood into the fire, fetching more water to quench her projects in.

After about a week and a half, at dinner, Steven asked him, “How’s the job hunt coming, Magnus?”

Magnus sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair.

“Not very good. People aren’t exactly excited to hire ‘the outsider’,” he quoted.

Steven hummed in his throat.

“I should have warned you about that, Magnus. My apologies.”

Magnus’s eyes jerked up to lock onto Steven’s.

“No, no! You don’t need to apologize- wait, why should you have warned me?”

Steven’s gaze drifted to the side, contemplative and regretful.

“Our town,” he began hesitantly, “has good reason to be distrustful of strangers. About three years ago, a group of bandits came into town. They... well, it wasn’t good.”

Julia was sitting beside Magnus, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her tense, her shoulders drawing up.

“In their attack, Julia lost her mother. I lost my wife.”

Julia squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, and took a slow, deep breath in. She wasn’t a little girl anymore, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to cry in front of her father and this relative stranger.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Magnus open his mouth. She held up a hand for silence, and he obeyed.

“I don’t need your pity, so you had better not apologize. You didn’t do anything, so you can drop any and all ideas of apologies right out of your mind.”

Julia was surprised at how strong her voice was, despite the wobble she could feel building in the back of her throat. She just hoped she was convincing enough for Magnus to let the subject drop.

Fortunately, he did.

She offered a weak smile. “It’s part of the reason I was so cold to you when we first found you. I didn’t know what your intentions were.”

“Makes perfect sense,” Magnus assured her. “I would’ve been the same way.”

And like that, the matter drops.

Steven cleared his throat.

“Anyways, Magnus, I thought of a solution to your employment problem.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow.

“Julia and I have been talking, and how would you like to be my apprentice? You could live in the apartment out back, just like you have been. We could use an extra pair of hands around here, and you show poten-“

Steven didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence before Magnus gleefully shouts his acceptance.

Swept up in his joy, Magnus leaped out of his seat and pulled Steven into a bear hug, a wide grin splitting his face.

Julia laughed. The man is so excited, he’s like a giant puppy. She was too busy looking at the bemused expression on her father’s face that she didn’t notice Magnus sweeping towards her. Before she could issue any protests, she’s pulled into a crushing, bone-creaking hug. She was so caught up in Magnus’s excitement that she was laughing along with him.

He finally set her down, and returned to his seat, thank you’s spilling from his lips.

Steven accepted the gratitude with an airy wave of his hand.

“Go on, you two go celebrate. I’ll clean up here.” He pulled out a small pouch of coins from his pocket and tossed it to Julia.

“Go get a drink or three. Tell Domas I said hello, and give him the bird for me.”

Julia laughed and grabbed Magnus’s wrist, already pulling him towards the door.

She hadn’t gone drinking in a while, especially not with someone her age and someone who isn’t her father. She’d been working hard, she deserved to let off a little steam.

Giddily, she pulled Magnus down the corridor towards the tavern.

The night went exceedingly well.

When they arrived, Julia told the old elf barkeeper that they’re celebrating Magnus’s apprenticeship, and he gave them each a round on the house. They joined an arm wrestling competition, and Magnus beat the strongest guy in the bar, winning him another free drink. When Julia beats Magnus, there’s a moment of silence before cheers ring round the bar. She gets sent drinks all night long from the impressed old craftsmen who populate the tavern, and when she’s had her (momentary) fill, she passes them along to Magnus.

Julia completely drinks Magnus under the table, much to her satisfaction.

In the late hours of the night, just before the sun rises, they stumble back to the Hammer and Tongs.

All in all, Magnus would say that the night was a total success, even in the morning when the sunlight filtering through the slits in the curtains feels too painful to look at.

Just when Magnus was getting used to the painful sensation of air on his skin, there was a loud banging on his door.

“Rise and shine,” Steven called gleefully through the door. “Big day of work ahead of us!”

The only reply he recieved was a long, drawn out moan from Magnus.


	3. Chapter 3

The day was overcast and chilly with a breeze that spoke of the coming fall. Magnus pushed his way through the streets of the Craftsman’s Corridor, ducking under overhangs and past doorways, avoiding the breeze to the best of his abilities.

As he passed the doorway to the Corridor’s only bar, The Caged Bird, Magnus heard shouts coming from the open doorway. Domas, the old elf who owned the bar, liked to keep the doors closed to keep a specific temperature in the bar. (He always claimed it was to keep his home brew beer from fermenting a certain way, but everybody knew that the old elf was getting older and more crotchety.)

The open doors might be a bit suspicious, but the shouts were not. The Caged Bird was the only bar in a Corridor habited by craftsmen who only had a few ways to let off steam, and with the taxes rising over the past year, everyone was tense.

Without giving it too much thought, Magnus passed on by The Caged Bird, savoring the warmth on his hands. Steven had sent him on an errand to the lumberyard to fetch some certain type of wood for a project, but they had misplaced his order, so Magnus was making his way back empty handed.

Just as Magnus passed by the doorway of the bar, three men exploded out of it.

Domas was bodily thrown out of the bar, with two of Kalen’s men standing over him.

“I already told you,” the elf snarled from where he raised himself up onto his hands and knees, “I don’t have that kind of money to pay such ridiculous taxes!”

One of the men hooked his foot into the elf’s shoulder, knocking him over onto his back. He placed his foot on the frail chest and leaned down. The other man leaned over Domas’s face.

“Then I guess Kalen will have to have a few select words with you.”

Domas twisted his face up in contempt.

“What’s that face for, old man?” The man leaning on Domas’s chest put more weight on that leg. Magnus could hear Domas’s wheezing. The man by his head walked down to his lower body and planted a savage kick on the elder’s hip.

From where he stood, Magnus could hear the cracking sound and the bitten-off noises from the frail old elf.

Magnus’s blood boiled; how dare they do this to someone who never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve this sort of treatment? Not to mention, if they took Domas to the manor where Kalen lived, it was unlikely that he would ever been seen again.

So Magnus did what he did best.

He rushed in.

He ran over to the man pinning Domas, and rammed him with his shoulder as hard has he could.

The man stumbled, and after a swift right hook from Magnus, he fell.

Magnus didn’t get much of a chance for reprieve before he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder in a right grip and spinning him around to face his assailant. Moving on instinct, he let himself drop, avoiding the fist that would have broken his nose otherwise. Quickly standing, Magnus rose again and punched the other man in the side of the head.

He staggered, but otherwise kept his footing. The two men circled in the street for a moment, before Magnus dashed forwards with a quick jab aiming for the other man’s nose. His fist was blocked, but he quickly countered with jamming his other first into the man’s rib cage. With the wind knocked out of him, the other man curled in on himself, his eyes bulging. Magnus kicked out at his knee, intending to sweep his legs out from under him, but instead accidentally connecting with the kneecap.

There was a cracking noise, and the other man dropped, screaming. Magnus backed away, but before he could leave the scene, there was a splitting pain on the top of his head.

His first opponent was back on his feet, and held a baton. Magnus must have missed that he had it when he first saw the situation.

Shocked by the pain, Magnus staggered, shaking his head to try to clear away the blinding pain that blurred his vision. He didn’t get the chance to get his bearings back before the baton slammed against his ribs. Magnus felt a pop, and his hands flew to his side.

Magnus knew he needed to end this, quickly.

Moving on pure adrenaline and panic, Magnus tackled the man, and once he had him on the ground, started punching. He hit the man underneath him until his eyes rolled back in his head instead of glaring at Magnus.

Gathering himself up, Magnus staggered out of the street.

He spared a glance around the street, spotting Domas being helped back inside The Caged Bird by his patrons before making his way back to the Hammer and Tongs.

Magnus pushed open the door to the main workshop and house. From inside the kitchen, he heard Steven call out, “You’re late! Lunch is almost ready, I hope you remembered to put the wood out back instead of in the shop this-“

Steven cut himself off at the sight of a bloodied Magnus leaning heavily on the doorframe. Magnus grimaced at his mentor.

“They lost the order at the yard.”

Steven only stared for a minute before putting his arm around Magnus’s shoulders and guiding him up the stairs, calling up as he went.

“Jules! Ready the med kit!”

Julia poked her head out of her room at the top of the stairs. “Did you lose a fingertip again-“ Magnus grinned up at her, his hands still gripping his ribs.

“Hey, Julia.”

She guided Magnus into her room to sit on her bed.

“Where does it hurt? Worst to least.”

“Mm, mostly my ribs, then head, then hands.”

“Ribs?”

Magnus moved his hands away from his side, but under his coat, Julia still couldn’t see anything.

“Dad. Go bring more bandages, and a pack of ice.”

Steven made his way out of the room, and Julia began pulling Magnus’s coat off his shoulders.

“I can’t see what the damage is under your clothes. Strip.”

Magnus grinned, even though the effort made his head hurt.

“I’m an honorable man, Jules.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Can you lift your arms above your head without your ribs hurting?”

Magnus tried, but was only able to get his elbows to shoulder height without biting back a whine.

Julia grabbed her carving knife and started to carefully cut along the seam to Magnus’s shirt.

“I’ll sew it back up later,” she promised at Magnus’s noise of complaint. “If not, it’ll be workrags.”

Once she could see the bare chest of the fighter, she could see the deep purple bruising on his ribs. At the slightest touch, she felt Magnus stiffen.

After she had his take a few breaths as deep as he could manage, and after her father brought the longest bandages they had, she pronounced him with extremely bruised, possibly broken ribs.

“No hard labor in the shop or forge,” she told her father. “At least a week of rest, with that head injury.”

“Is there anything that can be done right now?” Steven asked, concerned for his apprentice.

Julia shook her head.

“Just rest. I’ll let him stay in my room for the rest of the afternoon, and after dinner we can move him back to the apartment. I’d rather he not be moving around too much after that head wound.”

“Do you need any help?”

“I can finish up here, why don’t you finish up lunch?”

Steven pulled Julia in to press a quick kiss on the top of her head before descending the stairs back to the kitchen.

Julia handed Magnus the pack of ice she took from her father.

“Hold this on your head, and I need both your arms above your head so I can bind your ribs.”

Magnus did as he was told, biting his tongue when she tugged once to test the tightness of the bandages.

After she bandaged his ribs, she gently lifted his hands in hers and began cleaning the cuts on his knuckles.

Wiping the blood away with a rag, she made eye contact with Magnus.

“You need to be more careful, you know.”

Magnus hummed questioningly.

“Kalen’s men can do real damage, you got lucky. We need you here, Magnus.”

She lifted one of his hands up near her eyes, closely inspecting her work. As she spoke, her lips brushed his fingertips. It felt like an electric shock going through his fingers, his arm, heating his face.

Magnus inhaled sharply.

Julia pulled away.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?”

Magnus shook his head mutely. Julia’s lips quirked up into a small smirk.

“You’d think with all the cuts and nicks you get from work, you’d be a little desensitized.”

Magnus only shrugged, wincing when the movement pulled on his bound ribs.

Julia finished her work, carefully wrapping his knuckles. She settled a blanket over him and gently pushed him back onto her bed.

“Sleep, Magnus. I’ll have dad send up some food for you later.”

She slipped out of the doorway, her skirt swishing around her ankles and a fond smile playing on her lips.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to get out! I swear I’m trying to update once a week, I guess that the chapter after this will come relatively quick! Hope y’all enjoy, and please comment!

“I need to move out,” was the first thing Magnus said the day after Julia and the local doctor had cleared him for working in the shop again after the beating.

Julia and Steven were still sitting around the kitchen table, with the morning sun rising in the window behind them, the shop still not opened for the day.

Steven cleared his throat.

“Care to elaborate?”

Magnus didn’t want to shatter their illusion of safety in their own home, but they needed to know about the men he’d seen from his apartment window in the yard, behind the forge, by the shed, on the roof. Over the two weeks he’d been on bed rest, he’d seen at least four different men, all mercenaries who work for Kalen.

All of them watching him.

So he told them, and even speaking of it seemed to bring a little more shadow inside the house.

Julia got up and closed the shades, plunging the kitchen into darkness.

“So what are you going to do? Just leave and live somewhere else?”

Magnus took a moment to consider his options.

“I can’t just stay here; that would put you two at risk. Kalen’s men are keeping an eye on me, probably for standing up for Domas, maybe for other reasons. Obviously, I don’t know for sure, but it’s not fair to you to bring this onto you.”

Steven tapped his fingers on the table, pensively. Julia watched Magnus carefully, closely, as if trying to decipher his thoughts.

“I’ll rent a room from the innkeeper on the end of the corridor, the one near the town center. Not only will that throw off the men watching us, but it’ll give the innkeeper some business. Kalen’s been taxing them, too. I have enough money to make it month to month from working here.”

Julia wanted to protest, but it made sense. Both Magnus and herself and her father would be safer if he wasn’t living at the Hammer and Tongs. He would still be spending the majority of his time here, anyways. There was no reason for him to live there.

But Julia didn’t know why she herself didn’t want him to leave.

Her father interrupted her thoughts.

“When do you plan on leaving?” He asked.

“In about a week,” Magnus replied.

The rest of the week was spent preparing Magnus to leave, packing up the apartment where he’d spent the last year of his life and drawing up his contract to rent a room at the inn for a month at a time, all done as clandestine as possible to attract as little attention from prying eyes and ears as possible.

Finally, the day came where he would leave. Julia tried to convince herself to stop being so morose about the whole thing. So what if he wasn’t living in her backyard anymore, that was a good thing.

The afternoon Magnus was to leave, Steven left the house to go rent a cart and horse to use to haul Magnus’s things down the corridor. The Hammer and Tongs was located at the very end of the Craftsmen’s Corridor, against the cliff edge, so there was no room to store a cart or for a stable.

Julia made her way to the apartment behind the forge, where Magnus still sat on the bed and watched the sun slowly sink behind the cliffs on the horizon. A hunk of wood and a small knife sat abandoned beside him. Julia leaned in the open doorway and softly rapped her knuckles on the door jam.

“Knock knock,” she murmured, breaking Magnus from his reprieve. He looked up, his face breaking into a soft smile at the sight of her. “Hey,” he replied.

Julia moved his abandoned carving to his lap before taking a seat beside him. “Oh, I, uh, I was gonna make this for you.” The wood in his hands didn’t seem to resemble anything at the point it was at. She arched an eyebrow at it. “It’s supposed to be a rose. I just started.”

Julia smiled knowingly. “I see,” she teased. “I can see the petals on this end, here.” She pointed to the far end of the wood block. Magnus rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, that’s just from where I botched cutting it from the beam it came from.”

Julia laughed softly. Her eyes roamed the apartment, taking in all the little details. She didn’t notice Magnus’s eyes, roaming every inch of her face. To him, her laughter was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

“You know,” she started, breaking the silence, “I helped my dad build this apartment.” Magnus cocked his head to the side, curiosity piqued. “Really?” He asked. Julia nodded, smiling faintly, caught up in memories. “Yeah, when I was little. Come see this.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, outside, along to the back wall. There, she pointed out some drawings in ink on the boards a few feet off the ground. They were childlike, innocent. A stick figure family stood outside a house with smoke coming from the chimney. The father held what looked like a hammer in one hand, the mother with a saw, and the daughter between them with long curly hair.

“Of course,” Julia continued, “at the time I was more interested in this,” she gestured at the drawing, “than in actually building anything. But my dad eventually convinced me to help with the construction.” She chuckled softly at her memories. “I liked to help with the corners. There was something so satisfying in putting those boards together, it felt more like I was creating something instead of putting the walls up.”

Magnus walked over towards the nearest corner and pretended to inspect it.

“You got the joints really tight, great job.”

Julia rolled her eyes playfully.

“Yeah, because I brought you out here so you could compliment the joints,” she teased.

“Well, I think the drawing is great, too.”

Julia laughed and shoved at his shoulder. Magnus laughed, too.

She looked up at him. He looked at her. Their eyes met, irises dancing and glimmering in the sunset light. Magnus could feel his cheeks heating, but he didn’t care.

The moment was broken by Steven’s return.

He called from the house, “Julia! Cart’s ready!”

Julia looked away, and bellowed back towards the house, “Just a moment!”

She turned back towards a morose-looking Magnus.

“I’m gonna miss having you around, Magnus.”

Before she could overthink it, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Before he could reply, she spun and left for the house, her curls bouncing behind her, hoping he didn’t see her flushed cheeks.

He didn’t, because he was too busy trying to hide his own.

The move-in was uneventful, but that night, as the moon rose above the cliffs, Magnus had a hard time falling asleep without the sound of metal striking metal from within the forge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all, thanks for sticking with me on this! Sorry I haven’t been able to update, I went on winter break and my schedule got changed up, but I should be able to have more regular updates from now on, at least until I get caught up to what I already have written. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

For the first week, Magnus didn’t see any more men lurking in the shadows around the inn. He woke up, worked on carving the rose, and went to work. He spent his days just as he did before he moved, working for and learning under Steven and Julia. At nights, he stayed for dinner before walking down the Corridor, ducking his head and avoiding eye contact with the guards that patrolled the town.

But one night, after Magnus bid goodnight to the woman who rant the front desk of the inn, as he made his way down the hall, two men lurked in his apartment in the dark, waiting, watching.

As soon as Magnus stepped though the door and locked it, they pounced. They had the element of surprise, and the fighter was quickly overwhelmed. With his arms twisted painfully behind his back and his cheek smashed into the door, Magnus had no way to fight back.

“You think you’re real tough shit, don’t you,” hissed the guard holding his face against the door.

“You broke Trian’s nose and Sumac’s leg. Did you really think that Kalen would let you get away with that shit?”

Magnus felt the hands on his arms tighten their grip, just as his face was released, then punched. Just as quickly as he was released, his head was slammed against the door again. Groaning at the blow, Magnus reeled as a hand yanked his hair, turning his face back towards the furious guard.

The guard holding his arms spoke up from behind him.

“Bet he’s someone up there in the rebellion,” he muttered.

The other guard yanked his hair again.

“Where’s your hideout? Who’re your leaders? I want names, now, or I’m gonna do to you what you did to Trian!”

Magnus jerked against his captors, trying in vain to escape.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Bullshit,” the guard sneered. “You’re hiding something. Why else would you move locations?”

“Because I was being follow-“ Magnus was cut off by another blow to the face.

“I swear! I’ve never heard of any rebellion!”

“Then why’d you beat on Kalen’s men?”

“Because they were beating on an old man who didn’t do anything wrong!” Magnus shouted. The room went quiet.

He heard the guard behind him mutter, “... sick of this ‘concerned citizen’ bullshit...”

The two guards exchanged a look that Magnus couldn’t interpret.

“You’re not involved in the rebellion efforts?”

Magnus shook his head as much as he could.

“Then you didn’t hear anything about it.”

Before Magnus could react to the statement, the guard gripping his hair used his other hand to swiftly uppercut his jaw, knocking the fighter unconscious.

When Magnus awoke the next morning, he woke up on his bed, still in the clothes he wore last night. Dried blood streaked under from his nose. Groaning, Magnus sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

A glance at the clock in the corner of his apartment told him he was hours late for his apprenticeship. Quickly washing his face, Magnus all but ran from the inn, up the Corridor, to the Hammer and Tongs.

Thankfully, the shop was empty of people, aside from Steven and Julia. Steven was sawing away at a board that was to become a leg for a table. Julia was holding a horseshoe, asking for her father’s opinion.

Magnus bust into the shop, to the surprise of the both of them.

Steven straightened with a small smile.

“Magnus,” he began warmly, “I was just about to send Julia to grab you, we thought you might be sick, so-“ Magnus cut him off without a second thought.

“There’s a group rebelling Kalen in the town and nobody bothered to tell me!?”

Julia dropped her horseshoe. Steven sawed through the table leg. Neither of them seemed to notice, and both stared at Magnus for a moment. Julia leapt into action, closing windows and shades and curtains. Steven gathered his wits up, and locked the front door, turning the sign in the window to read “closed”.

The three of them gathered in the kitchen around the table, Julia and Steven on one side, facing Magnus on the other.

“Something happened,” Julia began. “Tell us, Magnus.”

Magnus told them about the men who ambushed him in his apartment, the slight case of mistaken identity.

Steven and Julia considered his story.

“That isn’t good,” Steven said. “If the guards know about such a thing, then Kalen obviously does, too. And if Kalen knows who is behind the efforts, then everyone involved is in danger.”

“So let me get this straight-“ Magnus looked between the two of them. “You’re both involved in this?”

Julia sighed. “Well, yes.”

“And why wasn’t I involved? At the least, told about it?”

Julia’s gaze became hard.

“I didn’t involve you for the exact reasons that you’ve gotten yourself in all of this in the first place- you don’t think! You just leap headfirst into any situation without thinking of the outcomes, or thinking about the people that might be placed at risk because of it!”

“You can’t expect me to just sit by and do nothing! Domas was an old man, two-to-one, you can’t tell me I did the wrong thing here!”

“I’m not saying you did the wrong thing- I’m saying that acting recklessly can end up with consequences we didn’t expect!”

Julia’s voice began to rise alongside her temper.

“Sometimes, you need to act instead of think! If I always sat around instead of thinking every single thing over, nothing would get done! They might have killed him, and then hurt how many others after that!”

Julia began to rise out of her seat.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t act! You just need to be more careful about it!”

Magnus rose to meet her.

“Maybe if you had someone who actually did something in your rebellion instead of planning for every little thing that might happen, you would actually see some progress!”

“How dare you! People have put their lives on the line for our cause, and you- someone who only just found out that we even exist- dare to tell us that we haven’t done a good enough job!? I can’t believe you, I can’t-“

At this point, they were standing and shouting at each other over the table.

Steven rose, and shouted, “Quiet!”

Both of them took his advice and sat. Magnus had the decency to look ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Julia.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I am, too. We’re both going to have to get used to each other’s ideas if we’re going to be working together on this.”

Magnus perked up.

“So I’m in?”

Julia chuckled softly at his enthusiasm.

“Yeah, you’re in. There’s a meeting tomorrow night.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a double update! Like I said before, I’m really sorry that it’s taken me so long to update. But I have some new content, and the story is starting to pick up! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you guys think!

Magnus wasn’t sure what he expected. On one hand, his mind conjured fantasies of dark-cloaked figures meeting at midnight rendezvous, silently plotting the perfect assassination attempt in a hidden room carved deep into the cliffs of Raven’s Roost. There would be an initiation or challenge of some sort, to prove that Magnus would be a useful candidate to the efforts. Maybe he would have to join a blood pact, or fight a large animal or something.

Instead, only part of it came true. Late at night, after the moon rose and the stars burned, Julia handed Magnus a dark hooded cloak. Dressed in a similar fashion, she carried a mostly-shuttered lantern in one hand, and one of her axes in the other.

Before the two of them left, Steven wrapped her in a bone-creaking hug.

“Be careful, alright?” Despite the fact that Julia had been involved in this since the beginning, every time she went to a meeting it seemed like there was a chance she wouldn’t make it back.

Magnus peered out the windows to the darkened street while father and daughter said their goodbyes. He was raring to go, and his excitement rose when Julia parted from Steven and unlocked the door. The two slipped outside and Steven carefully locked the door behind them.

Julia grabbed Magnus’s arm, pulling him in the right direction.

“This way,” she whispered. They snuck down the street as quietly as they could be, the only light from the moon and the faint glow around the shuttered lantern.

They reached the potter’s shop, located about halfway down the corridor. Julia scanned the street, and once she determined it was clear of any prying eyes, she slipped around the side of the shop, towards the cliff face. To Magnus’s surprise, there was a gap between the shop and the cliff face. The gap was just big enough for one person to squeeze through single-file. Julia ducked into the gap, and edged through. Once Magnus followed suit, he saw the door, built into the back of the shop.

It was a simple enough door, oak with iron trim, but there was a grate set in it, near eye-level. Julia rapped her knuckles on the door, and after a moment’s hesitation, the grate flipped open. A beady yellow eye peered out at them, mostly looking at Julia, but when Magnus leaned in to get a closer look, the eye widened.

“I didn’t know you brought a friend to the card game,” a gruff voice echoed out of the grate.

“He’s okay,” Julia replied. “He was dealt in earlier.”

The eye squinted doubtfully, and was that Magnus’s imagination, or did the pupil narrow as well?

“If you say so,” the voice replied, and the door swung inwards to reveal an older dragonborn.

He ushered the two of them inside and quickly shut the door behind them.

Julia pushed her hood off her head, and Magnus took his cue to do the same.

The room they were in clearly belonged to the pottery shop upstairs, with clay jars on shelves and crates labeled with the colors of different glaze mixes.

A fire was crackling away in a fireplace on the side of the room opposite the door, and next to it a stairwell lead up to a trapdoor, presumably leading up into the main shop. A rack of tools and pokers stood next to the fireplace. People were scattered around the room, and in the center of the room stood a large table, smeared with clay dust and residue. Most of the people in the room were gathered loosely around the table. When Magnus took his hood off, people’s gazes snapped to the newcomer in their midst, giving him the once-over. But when they saw how closely he stood with Julia, they let the matter drop, going back to their own conversations.

Julia took her chance to introduce Magnus to the dragonborn who let them enter.

“Magnus, this is Anfrith, the town’s potter. He and his wife, Leye, run the shop and lead the efforts.”

Magnus grinned at the other man and held out his hand. “Hail and well met!”

The dragonborn huffed, but shook the proffered hand.

Julia tried to introduce Magnus to as many people as she could, but there were so many people that Magnus didn’t know. Despite living in Raven’s Roost for about a year and a half, most of his socialization was concentrated in the Craftman’s Corridor, and the occasional merchant from the market.

Despite the many conversations, the room was still very quiet, no doubt as to not disturb neighbors and alert any passers-by to their activities. So everybody heard when the trapdoor above them rattled and creaked open.

Everybody froze, poised to flee, when a dwarven woman stuck her head down the stairs.

“It’s a quarter past midnight,” she called, “better get started.”

At her words, a young orc, no older than his teenage years, grabbed the mace resting at his feet and headed up the stairs. He held the trapdoor open for the dwarf woman, who clambered down the stairs as gracefully as she could. He gently closed the trapdoor, encasing them in solitude once again.

At Magnus’s questioning look, Julia whispered, “Lookout. He lets us know if anybody comes down the street. He knocks on the floor with his mace to tell us to quiet down, and if anybody is coming towards the shop.”

The conversations quickly died out as Anfrith and Leye stood at the head of the table. Someone pulled an inconspicuous pot down from a high shelf and passed it to Anfrith.   
He handed it to Leye, whose smaller hands reached in and pulled out a tightly-tied roll of paper, some writing utensils, and a handful of small stones, glazed in a variety of different colors.

Everyone huddled around the table. Magnus watched as the paper was untied and unfurled to reveal a detailed map of Raven’s Roost. Leye and Anfrith quickly worked to position the colorful stones on the map, and Magnus recognized it as a diagram, planning out a strategy. What the strategy is, he didn’t yet know.

“Thank you all for coming,” Anfrith began. “For those of you who need a refresher, and for our newcomer, we’re working on derailing one of the wagons in the caravan that comes around from Kalen when they collect their taxes.” He looked around the room, taking quick stock of the people in attendance.

“Let’s run through the plan, and make sure everybody’s part is coming on time,” Leye said. “Herbalists, how’s it going?”

An old woman raised her hand.

“The concoction is to be mixed in with the water in the drinking troughs for their horses once they’re in town. It’ll slow them down, make them tired, too tired to be able to run once we make our move.”

Leye nodded approvingly.

“Any objections?”

Julia raised her hand.

“You said it would be mixed in the troughs here in town? Won’t that run the risk of tainting our own animals?”

The old woman shrugged. “Yes, but the drug is only a sleeping concoction, there is no risk of permanent damage to our own animals. It’s a small price to pay.”

Apparently satisfied, Julia lowered her hand.

Leye smiled at the Herbalist, and turned her attention to scan the crowd. When the person she was looking for didn’t reveal themself, she turned back to Julia.

“Dear, is your father here tonight?”

“No, he stayed behind to keep an eye on the shop tonight.”

“Would you happen to know if his part is being done?”

Julia nodded. “Yep, I’ve been helping with it myself. The roadblock is just about ready, all we have to do paint one last coat of stain on it.” Leye considered this.

“How long will that take?”

“Not long at all, one day to do it, and one day to let it sit and dry and absorb the stain.”

“And, while we’re on you, how is your part coming along, dear?”

“Splendidly. I’ve finished creating it, and, like the other half of it, I just need to finish painting it.”

An idea occurred to her.

“Now that we’ve got him here,” she elbowed Magnus, “he can help me with it.”

Leye smiled warmly at her.

“Good girl. Does anybody have any objections to the roadblock?”

Nobody raised any hands, so Leye moved right along.

“Bindings, are those ready?”

A lithe elf in the back of the group raised their hand.

“Rope and blindfold is ready, ma’am,” they assured. “That driver’s not going anywhere until we let him.”

“Any objections?”

Once again, no hands were raised.

Leye turned to her husband. While she had been checking in with everyone, Anfrith had finished placing the colorful markers on the map. He straightened.

“Alright, everybody, here’s the plan. The next tax collection day is in two weeks, and on that day there will be a caravan of five wagons coming down from Kalen’s manor to collect taxes.”

A collective sigh gusted through the room.

“I know, I know,” he sympathized, “but you’ll get some of that money back this time.”

“So,” he continued, “those five wagons will be parked in the town center, near the marketplace. The horses will be drinking out of drugged troughs while the men go around collecting the money. Once the men hitch the horses up and make their way out of town, the drug will have begun to kick in. By the time they make it to the stretch of woods between the farmlands and the manor, the horses should be pretty slow moving. Once they’re in the woods, we target that last wagon in the caravan.”

As he spoke, Anfrith moved the stones around on the map to illustrate his point.

“Now, this next part is important. The woods are our cover from Kalen’s manor, he’s got the high ground and a vantage point. We need to be fast and efficient if this is gonna work.”

Anfrith leaned in, speaking to the group with a quiet desperation.

“The wagons are about fifteen feet apart from each other. Two things need to happen at once. First, we need to chop down a tree, one that’s close to the treeline. We need the driver of the last wagon to see it fall, because that’s our distraction. It should be one that’s close enough to be at potential risk of hitting the wagon, but not actually doing so. There will be two teams for this part, and the job for this team is to chop the tree to a point where it could fall at any moment. This team will also be responsible for felling the tree at the signal.”

He paused to study the map.

“The second team for this stage will be responsible for using a rope to drag the roadblock across the road. The roadblock needs to be between the last wagon and the one in front of it. The rope needs to be pulled quickly and smoothly, so it’ll seem like a branch from the fallen tree landed there. Once the roadblock is in place, we move on to the next stage. With the last wagon separated from the caravan, it’s time for our magic users and rogues to help us.”

He pointed to the elf in the back of the crowd, the one responsible for the bindings.

“They are gonna jump into the back of the wagon, and incapacitate the other man in back there. Remember, everybody, that there’s two men per wagon.” He paused to address the entire group, and then returned his attention to the elf.

“It’s your job to tie up the driver, no movement, no sight, no speech, no nothing. You,” he pointed to the back of the room, towards a corner far away from the fire.

On a barrel sat a small figure, completely enshrouded in black robes and a hood. Magnus hadn’t even noticed the figure until then.

“You’re gonna cast an illusion spell, make it look and sound like the driver is still there, make him tell the others that it’s okay to go on without him.”

The figure slowly raised a thumbs up, but said nothing.

Magnus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but said nothing. He turned to Julia for clarification, and she mouthed ‘later’ at him.

Magnus turned back to Anfrith.

“Once the rest of the caravan leaves, that’s when we get into that wagon, take our shit back, and get the hell out of there. Any questions? Any objections?”

Nobody raised any hands.

“Dismissed,” Anfrith grunted. “Get yourselves home safe, keep everybody who couldn’t be here informed.”

Leye made her way up the stairs as the map and stones were packed back into their jar.   
She knocked twice on the trapdoor, and two thumps from the ceiling answered her.

“It’s all clear!”

Anfrith didn’t look away as he put the jar back up on the shelf.

“Get out of my house,” he growled.

Mirth swept through the group as they dispersed out the hidden door, into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the comments that you guys have left me, I just want y’all to know how much they mean to me! I hope you guys leave more, and enjoy this new chapter!

The morning after the meeting dawned cold and foggy. Mist swirled around the bridges connecting the different Corridors of Raven’s Roost and billowed down into the canyons below the cliffs. Magnus made his way to the Hammer and Tongs with his cloak wrapped tightly around him. Despite the cover the fog gave him, it still seemed like the cold and damp housed thousands of prying eyes, all watching him from just beyond his vision. The street was quiet, seemingly too quiet for sunrise. It was as if the fog muted and swallowed all noise aside from his footsteps, which seemed to grow louder and louder by the minute.

Magnus sighed in relief as he opened the door to the Hammer and Tongs. The familiar warmth and light were welcoming, swallowing up the cold and stillness outside the door. Someone was rattling around inside the kitchen, and when Magnus leaned around the doorway, he was greeted by Steven, holding two cups of coffee.

“Morning, Magnus,” his mentor called. Magnus cheerily replied.

Sitting at the table, Steven offered Magnus one of the cups. Magnus gratefully acceded the proffered drink, allowing the heat to drive away the remaining vestiges of discomfort from his bones.

“How was the meeting last night?” Steven asked in a low voice. Magnus took a contemplative drink.

“I thought Julia told you about it.”

Steven shrugged. “She did, but I wanted to hear it from you.”

Magnus smiled faintly. It was... amazing, frankly. All these people, people of all different races and from completely different parts of the town, all coming together to work for a common goal, all seeking justice against the tyrant who was ruing their lives. The smile remained on Magnus’s lips as he told Steven as much.

“And Julia was a huge help, as well,” he concluded. “She really has a lot of pull in there, I could tell.” Steven smiled widely, proud of his daughter.

Magnus looked around the empty kitchen.

“Speaking of her, where is she?”

Steven scratched the back of his head.

“Her and I both went to bed pretty late last night, she’s probably still getting ready in her room. Do me a favor, go and tell her I’m gonna open shop soon, will you?”

Magnus put his empty cup in the sink.

“No problem,” he replied, heading for the stairs.

Once he made his way to Julia’s room, he knocked on the door. Her voice echoed out into the hallway.

“Come in! I’m almost finished!”

Magnus opened the door and stepped into her room. She stood in front of the mirror on her wall, busy pulling her hair into a tight braid.

She caught Magnus’s eye in the reflection and smiled.

“Hey, Mags. What’s going on?”

Briefly caught off guard by the nickname, it took him a moment too long to answer. He stuttered in his haste.

“Oh! Uh, Stev- Your dad is gonna open the shop soon, so he sent me to make sure you were up.”

Julia hummed as she finished tying a ribbon around the end of her braid.

“He always waits for me to be down there before opening,” she said. As she spoke, she bean winding her braid around its base, until it was looped into a tight knot on the back of her head. Grabbing a few pins from the top of her dresser, she pinned the braid in place and reached for a bandanna sitting next to the pins.

“I always tell him, _‘Dad, you can open without me,’_ but he always says he would rather wait for me to be sure I’m ready for the day. As if one hair out of place would kill me.” She rolled her eyes as she finished tying the bandanna around her head.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

She made her way out of her room, closing the door behind her, and ushered Magnus down the stairs. Once the two of them were present, Steven flipped the sign on the door to read “open”. Julia made her way into the kitchen and returned a moment later with her own cup of coffee.

Steven turned his attention to Magnus.

“There aren’t any orders today that I need you on, it’s all stuff you’ve learned before, so today you can help Julia out in the forge. I’ll grab you if I need you. Jules,” he addressed his daughter, “we need to finish up our parts on the... project, for our... friends. I’ll be doing that first thing today, I suggest the same for you unless you have any orders you need to take care of.”

Julia shook her head. “I’m all clear, dad.” She grabbed Magnus’s wrist, pulling him towards the back door that lead to the forge. “Let’s go, Mags, dad put the paint cans we need way up high and you’re my human ladder.”

Magnus let himself be pulled into the forge.

Julia was not a short woman by any means, her 5’8 height nearing Magnus’s 6’0. However, she took after her mother more so than her 6’4 father, who mistakenly installed shelves in the forge that were way too high for his daughter to reach, and even a struggle for his apprentice.

Julia regarded the shelves with her hands on her hips.

“I think the cans we need are near the back, too.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Magnus said, hesitantly. “If I put you on my shoulders, will you be able to reach them?”

Julia regarded him, looking him up and down, sizing him and the shelf up.

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “That’ll work.

Magnus crouched down, lowering his shoulders. Julia hesitantly stepped over his neck.

“Ready?” He asked, more concerned that she’d hit her head on the roof of the forge more than anything else.

“Ready!”

Magnus slowly stood up, his hands on her thighs to keep her in place. He winced as her hands found his hair and tugged as she attempted to steady herself.

“Wow,” she said, looking around the forge, her hands reaching for the shelf. “It’s a whole new world up here.” She looked down at Magnus, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “Is this what it’s like for you all the time?”

He laughed, his shoulders bouncing. Julia squeaked, and gripped the shelf edge.

Peering at the various cans of polish, lacquer, and paint, she made a sound of recognition when she found the cans she needed. “I see them!”

She pulled the cans towards her. “They’re heavier than I thought,” she growled. “Must be nearly full, then.” She looked down at Magnus. “I’m gonna hand them down to you, and you can put them on the floor, alright?” Magnus nodded his assent.

Julia released the shelf and used both hands to lift the paint can down to Magnus, who in turn released one of her thighs to grab the proffered can. At the additional weight, Magnus felt his balance shift, so he put his other hand against the wall, steadying himself. Julia was left to balance herself. Pulling the other paint can down, she used her legs to hold herself still so she wouldn’t topple off of Magnus’s shoulders at the weight.

Reaching up for the other paint can, Magnus felt Julia’s thighs tensing and flexing around his neck. His face reddened at the implication, and when Julia’s hands released the shelf and returned to his head and tightened in his hair for balance, he nearly choked.

Carefully, Magnus took a step back from the shelf and lowered himself so Julia could slide off his shoulders. As she went to find the tool for opening cans, Magnus took the opportunity to wipe his brow.

Julia returned, and she popped open the cans to reveal a deep, leafy green paint.

She picked up the cans and brought them over to a corner of the forge, where a tarp covered a worktable. Julia whisked the tarp away and placed the cans on the edge of the bench.

Under the tarp sat a complicated tangle of barbed wire. The closer Magnus looked, the more it began to make sense. One side of the tangle was straight lines, and those straight lines branched off into leaf-like shapes, all made of razor-sharp metal. Some of the lines broke off into sharp points. The other side of the tangle was made of loops of wire.

Julia carefully bolted the door to the forge shut, and made her way back over to where Magnus stood.

“This is my part of the roadblock.”

She looked her project over. “This half,” she pointed to the leaf shapes, “is gonna look like the branches and and leaves that come from the tree. That’s why we’re painting it green. And this part,” she pointed to the loops, “is where is attaches to my dad’s part. He’s in charge of making the ‘trunk’, so to speak.”

Julia busied herself with finding brushes for them to use. “The leaves will be nailed to the trunk through the loops. My half of the roadblock will be facing the horse when they come down the path, it’s all made of barbed wire so the horse won’t want to step over the trunk, and if it does, it’ll get a little bit hurt, which will inconvenience Kalen later on.”

Julia presented Magnus with a brush, and they both got to work, coating the wires in paint.

He was quiet beside Julia, but she could tell he was brimming with questions. She tucked away a piece of hair that fell out of her braid. “Go ahead, ask.”

“Who was that, the person in back?” Julia hummed. “We don’t know, really. They’ve been showing up at meetings since the beginning. Our spies followed them, and as near as we can tell, they’re a farmer. Absolutely no connection to Kalen, though. They’re completely safe, a magic user. Nobody has any idea where they came from.”

“Ok, so what about that lookout?”

Julia smiled fondly.

“He’s Anfrith’s and Leye’s nephew, Selsel. Came to live with them when he was younger, like, really little. I used to babysit him. He wants to be involved in the rebellion efforts, but Anfrith and Leye won’t let him. They say they need someone to run the shop if they get captured, and he’s not technically an adult yet. They let him do his lookout thing, but they figure that the less he knows, the better.”

Magnus nodded, taking it all in.

“And how did you get involved in the rebellion?”

Julia smiled, but it was tight and forced and strained, and really, more like a grimace.

“I all but started it.”

Magnus stared at her, waiting to see if she’d reveal more or end the conversation.

“You know the weird podium in the town square? The one that looks like a half-finished gallows?” Magnus nodded, picturing the strange structure in his head. “Well, not long after Kalen gained power, he decided he wanted to bring back public executions. He made up some bullshit excuse about how ‘the people voted, and the people deserve to see the threats to their wellbeing die before their eyes’, blah blah blah. There was never any sort of vote, in case you were wondering.”

She took a deep breath. “Kalen tried to force the craftsmen in the Corridor to make him some gallows. My father and I were some of them. This was maybe a year after my mother... died, and the subject was very... well, I didn’t take the idea of anybody else dying in my town very well. So I marched right up to Kalen, and told him exactly where he could stick his godsdammed gallows. And he laughed,” Julia shrugged, “so I punched him.”

Magnus could picture the scene very clearly in his head. It was a picture he liked very much.

Julia carried on with her story. “So, people started to realize we didn’t have to sit back and let some tyrant get away with ruing our lives. We’ve worked hard to get here, we aren’t gonna sit back and let him take everything.”

Magnus put down his brush and looked Julia in the eyes. She stared back, almost daring him to say something to contradict her.

“Thank you,” he said. “For sharing your story. Thank you.”

Julia seemed to deflate, all the tension and anger leaving her body.

“Yeah,” she breathed. She sighed, and picked herself up. “Let’s get this finished today, Mags.” Dipping her brush in the paint can, she busied herself with her work. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Thank you so much for your comments and kind words; they mean so much to me and every single one makes me more excited and spurs me to write more! Here’s the next installment! I hope you enjoy, and please leave more of your wonderful comments for me!

The day of the execution of the raid of Kalen’s caravan came sooner than Magnus was expecting. The sun was bright and strong through the window to Magnus’s apartment, and he found himself ready and raring to go even though it would still be hours before the caravan arrived in Raven’s Roost. Steven had given him permission to come in to the workshop late, saying that Magnus would need all the sleep he could get, but Magnus still left at the normal time.

He let himself into the shop and made his way to the kitchen, where he found Julia and Steven sitting at the table. Magnus helped himself to the already brewed coffee and sat by Julia. She bumped shoulders with him in way of greeting before actually addressing him.

“Anfrith says we need to report to him sometime in the next hours, find out what part we’re going to be doing. My money’s on you chopping the tree, I bet I’ve got the rope-duty.”

The next hour passed too slowly for Magnus’s taste, but soon he and Julia were off.

As the door to the pottery shop cheerfully dinged open, bells clacking on the handle, Selsel looked up his book at the counter. He rolled his eyes, every inch seeping teenage derision, but he got up and ambled around to the workshop on the first floor, sticking his head around the door.

“Uncle Anfrith!”, he shouted, “Customers!”

The dragonborn made his way around the corner a few moments later, wiping clay dust off his claws onto his apron.

“Sorry, had to fire the kiln.” He made his way around the counter, with Selsel taking up position by the door, peeking out the curtain-covered windows.

“You’ll both be on chopping duty. You’re strong, and Julia knows how to set up trees to fall just right. It’s important that you both be back to the Hammer and Tongs before the mercs get there to collect, you need to keep up appearances. Julia, you and your father will be on the rope. Magnus, you can follow Julia and watch, but you need to stay hidden at all times. Any questions?”

There were none, so the two of them headed back to the Hammer and Tongs as quick as they could. They needed to tell Steven, keep him up-to-date on the situation, and they needed to get out and ready that tree to fall for the second rope crew. They were acutely aware of how fast the clock was ticking down; they only had two hours until the caravan arrived.

Julia sent Magnus out back to fetch a coil of rope, while she quickly talked with her father. She quickly stepped into her room to grab her axes, and after a moment of quiet deliberation, she grabbed her old, bulky one as well. The blade was sharp, and someone with as much bulk as Magnus could wield it better than she could. As strong as she was, he fit the “brick shithouse” build more than her.

As the two of them met up again in the main entrance, she held the holstered axe out to him.

“Here,” she offered. “You gotta have something to take the tree down with, right? Can’t use muscles alone.”

Magnus laughed and slung the axe over his shoulder, across his broad back.

“I was just gonna punch it until it fell,” he joked. “That’s what works for most of my problems.”

The two of them headed for the small patch of woods in a companionable silence, passing the herbalist in the center of town, turning a blind eye when she dropped bunches of herbs into the water troughs around the town square.

“Anfrith marked the tree he wanted us to cut,” Julia explained, searching around the bases of the trees near the edge of the road. “but I don’t know what he did to mar- ah!” At her exclamation, she waved Magnus over and pointed out a small _X_ scratched into the bark near the base of the tree.

“That’s where we should start chopping, to make sure that gets covered up. But before we do that,” she said, looking up the trunk, “we need to tie a rope around the trunk higher up, so we.. can... pull...” She trailed off, her hands on her hips.   
The trunk of the tree was mostly bare for the first twenty feet, with a few tiny, green, fresh branches sticking out here and there. Julia pinched the bridge of her nose for a few moments, then began scanning the trees nearby. “Hand me the rope,” she said absently, holding her hand out and making grabby motions. Magnus complied, and she looped it over her shoulder. She stepped over to a pine tree two trees over with lower branches, and hauled herself up into it. She began to climb the tree like a ladder, going higher and higher, and Magnus saw her become smaller and smaller. His hands went up to grip at his hair as Julia reached a branch sturdy enough to bear her weight further out as he realized her intention.

She was going to climb over to the targeted tree.

Magnus knew, rationally, that she would be fine. She was strong as hell, and dexterity was her thing. She was confident in her abilities, and so was Magnus, but there’s something about seeing someone dangling from a branch twenty feet up in the air drop onto another branch five feet down, knowing luck was the only thing that kept them from missing, or their grip slipping, or the branch giving out.

Nonetheless, Julia made her way safely to the target tree. Sitting on a sturdy, thick branch, she looped the rope around the trunk several times, tied a knot, and tossed the rest of the coil down to Magnus. She then began her descent back the way she came, and when she finally dropped out of the pine, Magnus felt his knees go weak with relief. Julia seemed totally unfazed, unsheathing her axes and measuring up for the first swing. Only then did she seem to notice Magnus was not, in fact, pulling out his axe and working.

“Come on, Mags. Time is running out, we gotta get going on this. Get to work!”

With that, Magnus got to work. The two of them started up an easy rhythm, a back-and-forth that took the tree down to the point Julia judged decent in three-quarters of an hour. There were only a few quick adjustments to the positioning of the rope so it wasn’t visible from the road, and then they were off, back to the safety of the Hammer and Tongs.

At this point, the caravan had half an hour to arrive.

Julia went out to the forge to beat her frustrations out on some metal, and Steven and Magnus were at the point in their only two orders where they had to wait for the stains to settle into the wood. Steven sat at the kitchen table while Magnus paced the length of the workshop, into and through the entryway and kitchen, to the backdoor that led to the yard, and back again. He had never been good at waiting, never been very patient.

They were waiting. As soon as the mercs came through and collected from individual houses, the occupants would be ready to go at any minute. As soon as the caravan left, the rope teams would have to follow as closely as they could without being spotted. The boarding team would have a narrow window to get into the woods and hide in position, hopefully that window would be widened by the horses being slowed by the herbs in the water.

It seemed simultaneously too soon and too long when the knock on the door came.

Steven answered the door to reveal Casta, the merc who came around on Magnus’s first day in Raven’s Roost.

“Hey, Waxman. It’s payday.”

Steven raised an eyebrow.

“For you, maybe. Just a moment.” Steven left the doorway to fetch the required gold, revealing Magnus in the doorway of the workshop. Casta gave him a little nod.

“How’s it goin’, Burnsides?”

Magnus was spared having to answer by the back door banging open.

“Dad,” Julia called through the house, walking through the kitchen. “When did we last get any copper? The damn thing won’t weld-“

She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, staring hard at Casta. A smile grew on his lips, a Cheshire grin that rose the hair on the back of Magnus’s neck.

“How you doin’, Jules?”

Julia folded her arms across her chest, still holding her hammer.

“You don’t get to call me that. My friends and family call me ‘Jules’, you aren’t either.”

Casta raised his hands, palms up, false innocence and contrition bleeding from every pore.

“Alright, alright, Miss Waxman, I got it.”

Julia scoffed. “Actually, I’d rather you not talk to me at all.”

Casta smiled tightly, baring his teeth. “Ooh, she’s feisty. Isn’t she, Burnsides?” He took a step towards Julia. Her nostrils flared, and Magnus could see her grip on her hammer tighten.

Magnus watched in apprehension. Where the hell was Steven? A creaking noise behind Julia revealed the older man standing on the bottom stair, a pouch of coins clutched in his hands, watching the scene unfold, but seemingly frozen in place.

Casta took one more step towards Julia, and now he was close enough that he could reach out and touch her. Julia held her ground, eyes glaring defiantly. Casta raised his hand, as if to stroke her hair. Magnus was already moving forward, but before Casta could make contact, Julia was driving the flat of her hammer into his chest and pushing, driving him into the wall, pinning him there.

“Get what you came for, and leave,” she growled. Steven quickly tossed her the coin pouch, which she threw at Casta’s feet.

  
“Don’t let me see you here again,” Julia continued, “or else I will take this hammer and do much worse with it. Don’t even _think_ ,” she spat the word ‘think’, baring her teeth at the man pinned to the wall, “about coming back here. We’ll pay his damn taxes, but it better not be to you.”

With that, she released him. He stooped, grabbing the coins, and left in a hurry, slamming the door behind him.

Julia sighed, leaning heavily on the wall the moment the door shut. Magnus saw how her hands shook as she brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Steven wrapped her up in a hug, which she accepted. She looked at Magnus.

“I saw you lunge,” she said gratefully. “Thank you for being willing to do something. But I had to do this myself.”

As she spoke, Steven rocked her from side to side. She rolled her eyes and brought her hand up to pat at his arms.

“Dad, I’m fine. You can let go now.”

He released her after a moment. Julia settled the hammer next to the door.

“Guess we’d better be ready, huh?”

They occupied themselves during the wait by preparing, Julia and Steven pulling on gloves to protect their hands from rope burns, Magnus sharpening the blade of his new axe.

Soon, it was time to go.

The main group of the rebellion was loosely gathered in the town square, blending into the crowd of market goers and business owners. They watched as the drivers had a harder time than normal getting the horses hitched up and ready to go, but they managed and before too long, the caravan rumbled down the bridge out of Raven’s Roost. Magnus followed Steven and Julia as they moved among the crowd, following the farmers as they began their tracks back to the farmlands outside the town.

Once they reached the woods, they crouched low, using the foliage as cover to move to position quickly. Magnus hunkered down behind a bush as Steven and Julia took up the rope that ran across the dusty road. Across the road from him, Magnus could hear the other rope team take up position to fell the tree, and behind them sat the boarding team.

It wasn’t long before Magnus heard the rumble of wagons and horses. He tensed. The timing had to be perfect, or else they were all screwed. The first wagon came into view, then the second, third, fourth, and finally, fifth. He held his breath as the wagons passed, one after another, until-

There was a creaking noise as the fourth wagon passed, and right as it drove over the rope, the tree came toppling down. Not a second too soon, Magnus watched as the roadblock flew into place. The horses didn’t stop in enough time, and the barbed wire jabbed around their ankles.

Magnus watched as the boarding team crawled up the back of the wagon before it even stopped, and the only reason that Magnus knew that it had been taken over was because he knew what was going on. The elf crawled down onto the driver from the roof, and in a matter of moments he was bound and gagged and safely store, unconscious, in the back of the caravan, next to him the other merc.

The figure in black stood on the driver’s empty seat and projected a powerful display of magic in a moment of seconds, creating a perfect hologram of the driver.

“Hey, you alright back there?”

The driver of the fourth wagon called back to the fifth, the entire caravan stopped.

“Yeah, I’m good,” the figure called back, a voice much deeper than Magnus would have ever assumed to be physically possible for such a small figure booming out.

“Do you want us to help?”

The hologram shook his head.

“No, carry on. We’ll move this and catch up!”

The fourth driver shrugged and passed on the news, and after a minute, the caravan moved on.

As soon as they rounded the bend in the road and disappeared behind the tree line, it was go time. The roadblock was hauled away by Anfrith, the chest filled with illicit taxes was recovered from the back of the caravan, and they were off. They made it back to town and dispersed, with orders passed around to meet again in three days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it, sorry it got kinda... bleh around the end. Let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of happiness! Julia and Magnus get a little closer.

The next few months after the raid went by with relative ease. Fall slipped into the harsh chill of winter, crops withering and the market shrinking as famers lost their wares. Snow fell, and pine became the go-to wood for the craftsmen of Raven’s Roost.

There came a boost in sales at the Hammer and Tongs as the holiday called “Candlenights” approached. Magnus had never heard of it, despite Julia’s insistence that it was widespread. Magnus shrugged off the buzzing gap in his memory in favor of accompanying Julia on a trip to gather more lumber for the incoming orders.

They rode off in the rented cart, Julia holding the reins and Magnus huddled in the passenger seat. They drove over frozen fields, through the small wooded areas surrounding the cliffs and crags of Raven’s Roost. Steven had instructed them to get wood further away from town, so there would still be trees nearby come spring.

They drove out past the farmlands, out further than Magnus had ever gone. Eventually, they came to a forest around midday. Julia hopped out of the cart, her breath steaming around her face.

“This is it,” she announced cheerily. “Dad wants at least four tree’s worth of lumber, and all the good ones are further in.”

Magnus adjusted the axe slung across his back.

“Let’s get going, then!”

The two of them set off into the frozen forest. At first, the going was easy and pleasant. The afternoon sun was bright and warm on their backs, even warm enough to melt some of the icicles hanging from the bare branches around them. Frost glittered prettily in shaded patches around them, their boots crunching on the fresh snow. Magnus glanced behind them, delighted to see the snow undisturbed except for their matching trails. Out of the corner of his eye, he snuck a glance at Julia, and what he saw nearly took his breath away.

Snowflakes stuck in her hair, leaving her black curls glimmering and winking in the light. Frost hung from her eyelashes, and her eyes danced with the reflections of the icicles around them. When she exhaled, her breath billowed up, hanging around her face, and for a moment, Magnus could forget reality and imagine them in their own little world, high above everything else, just walking in the clouds.

Unfortunately, reality didn’t like the idea that Magnus would abandon it so easily, as it crashed down on him almost violently.

A branch, laying across the path, caught across one ankle and under the other foot. Magnus was so preoccupied with watching Julia he didn’t see the obstacle in his path. Snared on the branch, Magnus began to fall, pitching to the side. The path they were walking on was perched on a small, but fairly steep hill. Magnus fell to the side with a shout. In his panic, his arms flailed, reaching for something stable.

That something stable happened to be Julia, who really wasn’t that stable at all. She ended up following Magnus’s lead.

The two of them ended up tumbling down the hill, crashing through bushes and piles of snow. The two of them ended up rolling to a halt at the base of a tree. The tree stopped Magnus from tumbling any further, Magnus stopped Julia. She crashed into his side, the breath punched out of the both of them from the impact. They lay there for a moment, staring up at the blue patch of sky in the break in the treetops. They stared in silence, catching their breath from their chaotic fall, until Julia began to laugh.

It started out as quiet giggles muffled behind her glove, until it turned into loud, body-heaving, raucous laughter. It was infectious, and soon Magnus began to laugh as well, and they lay there in the snow and sunshine, laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of their situation. Julia rolled onto her side, burying her face in Magnus’s chest, wailing with laughter.

“Your-“ she choked on her words, gasping for breath. “Your face! You just-“ she made a complicated gesture with her arm that roughly translated to _falling_. Magnus laughed harder, his belly bouncing each exhalation.

Eventually, the laughter quieted, and Julia raised herself up from Magnus’s side, wiping nearly-frozen tears of mirth from her eyes. Magnus missed the warmth of her pressed to him, but didn’t say anything.

“Okay,” she said, taking a shuddering breath. She stood, stretching herself out, and offered her hand down to Magnus. He gratefully took it, levering himself to his feet.

Julia glanced around where they landed, her hands on her hips. Her eyes roved the scene, the snow on the ground pristine except the trail that lead from the base of the tree up the hill. Magnus took in the tree that stopped his fall.

“Hey,” he said, laying a palm on the bark of the tall pine. “Would this one work?”

Julia raised an eyebrow as she considered the pine. She shrugged, pulling her axes out.

“Yeah, that one’ll work.” She set Magnus to work on felling the tree while she sought out others in the vicinity that met her standards.

By nightfall, the trees were down and tied in ropes, hauled out of the forest. The hardest part was getting the lumber up into the wagon for transport. Julia brought up the rear of the tree, lifting the back end while Magnus guided the front end into the wagon. She watched him as he worked, admiring the muscles in his arms that rippled when he heaved the lumber up. He was so strong, he could probably lift her up with one arm.

_She knew she could lift him, they had tried one night while bored and drunk._

He was an extraordinary fighter, a fierce warrior, yet he remained so gentle, so kind, so sweet.

_He nearly cried when a local farmer’s dog had puppies. They had been in the market when the farmer was selling the puppies, and Magnus took the time to pet each one, and nearly cried when one pup licked his cheek. He audibly sniffled when Julia reminded him that Steven was allergic to dogs, so they couldn’t get one of the puppies._

Julia was startled out of her reverie when the final log was loaded up into the wagon. Minutely shaking her head, Julia assisted Magnus in hitching the horse back up to the wagon, and they left the forest and began the trip back to Raven’s Roost.

The sun had dipped below the horizon and the moon rose above them, hanging above them. Julia scanned the night sky, taking in all the stars.

“What are you looking for?” Magnus asked her.

She hummed in the back of her throat, turning to face him but still watching the sky.

“I’m looking at the moon. My mother used to say that the moon watches over all people, and when a cloud passes over the moon, it’s a sign that good luck is coming soon.”

Nodding, Magnus tipped his head back, picking out constellations. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled. The cart moved on, the snow glittering, reflecting the starlight. Magnus grew bored of the stars above him and returned his attention to the road ahead of them. In the distance, the cliffs of Raven’s Roost rose up, glowing with houselights. Magnus watched Julia out of the corner of his eye, and unbeknownst to him, Julia watched back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all! I hope you like this one, please tell me what you think! Also, I’m starting to close up this bigass gap in the middle of the story, but... There is a possibility that I won’t be able to update every week like I want to once I catch up to where I’ve written to. I’ve got a few more weeks to fix it, though. 
> 
> TLDR; I might have to update less frequently, but that’s a few weeks away. 
> 
> Anyways, please comment!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s starting to pick up now- also, mind the time skip, because I don’t fucking know how to advance time without making it weirdly paced. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Over the winter months, the rebellion continued it’s efforts to uproot Kalen from the shadows. They distributed the recovered taxes among the citizens, starting with the poorest and the most in need. An apothecary that was about to go bankrupt suddenly had the funds to stay open for another month or two. A dwarf who had made his home on a street corner came across the funds to stay for a week in the local inn. With a bit of extra cash on hand, the masons who had been scraping by week by week hired the dwarf.

They still met in secret in the dead of the night in the basement of the pottery shop. Every meeting followed a pattern: Anfrith admitted members into the basement, Selsel kept watch from the upstairs window, Leye planned the next strike. After each meeting, they dispersed to go their own ways and shared the plans with the missing members.

Julia rose in the ranks and received more responsibilities shortly after spring arrived. Magnus got the news immediately after the meeting when Julia returned to the Hammer and Tongs. Magnus was sick, his allergies protesting the spring air. Huddled at the kitchen table nursing a mug, Magnus startled and jolted at the sound of the door flying open, tea splashing over the table. Julia bounded into the kitchen, her eyes wide and gleaming and a wide smile fixed on her face.

“Mags!”

She zeroed in on him and crossed the room in three long strides until she was standing at his side, practically vibrating with excitement.

She gripped his arm and bounced on her toes.

“Magnus! Mags, they promoted me!”

In an instant, Magnus forgot about his stuffed nose and tea stains on his shirt. Julia’s excitement fed into his, and his whole attention was on her.

“Really? Jules, that’s amazing!”

She pulled him into an enormous embrace, lifting him off his feet. He laughed, and for a moment, time hung in the air, reduced to a single moment of pure joy. Julia released him in the next moment, but Magnus gripped her wrists, just as excited as her.

“What’s the promotion? What do they have you doing? What happened? Tell me everything!”

Julia flounced over to pull out a chair and sit, and Magnus went to grab something to clean up his spilled tea. Julia began filling Magnus in on all the details he missed at the meeting as he cleaned. Local businesses were flourishing after the money was returned to the rightful owners, spies reported that Kalen was irritated at the loss of one chest of taxes, but he couldn’t do anything about it for fear of looking weak, a plan to incapacitate a supply caravan going up to Kalen’s manor was starting to come together.

Finally, Julia got to her promotion.

“And then Leye turned to me and said ‘ _Dear, you’ve been doing this for a while, how would you like to be in charge of organizing and directing the people undercover with Kalen?_ ’ And I didn’t quite believe that she was asking me of all people, and I thought she was joking, and then Anfrith asked why I was laughing, and I realized they were serious, so I stayed behind and now all of our spies will be reporting to me now, and _I’m_ in charge of reporting that information to Anfrith and Leye, and I can advise them about what they ought to do with that information and how to direct the spies within the manor! Isn’t that amazing, Mags?”

Magnus had finally sat next to Julia at the table, caught up in the story. He grinned widely, proud of her and excited for this recent development. He nodded, and meant to tell her as much, but a yawn stopped him. Julia looked up to the window to see the morning sun rising, spreading warmth to the new day.

“Oops,” she said, guiltily. She rose to her feet, pulling Magnus up with her.

“You can stay in the apartment out back,” she offered. “I’ll tell my dad about the meeting. The next one is next week. I’ll see you in a few hours, Mags.”

Tiredly, Magnus waved goodnight to Julia and stumbled out to the apartment and crashed into bed, asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Julia passed the next week in a blur of excitement. She already had ideas about what they could do with the spies working under Kalen in the manor. Perhaps they could be used to sabotage the food supply, or “accidentally” lose some important documents, or maybe even find a way to bring back some money to the town.

Finally, it was dark enough for Julia, Steven, and Magnus to lock up the Hammer and Tongs and slip away into the night, making their way to the secret entrance behind the pottery shop. Steven knocked on the door, and the grate on the door flipped open, revealing Anfrith’s eye. He took them all in, before the grate shut and the door unlocked. The three of them made their way inside, unaware of the figure on the cliff face above them, watching.

The meeting started in the same way as the others. Leye made her way downstairs, Selsel upstairs, mace in hand. The pot with the plans was passed to Anfrith and Leye, who took them out and began setting up the diagrams for the strategy.

The current plan they were working on was disrupting a supply caravan that went up to Kalen’s manor every other month. Each caravan carried a month’s worth of food, each wagon in the caravan holding a specific group of items. Even if they could only take out one wagon, they would still be disrupting the routine enough to cause problems. The basic structure of the plan was outlined, the plans and diagrams returned to their pot. Anfrith leaned on the table.

“Right, now let’s move on to the matter of-“

He didn’t get a chance to finish before the door blew open.

Mercenaries surged into the room. They came bearing weapons and ropes, cuffs and chains. They didn’t come to kill, but they did come to take prisoners, and that was almost worse. Time seemed to slow as the first intruders entered the room, swinging clubs to incapacitate and stun. Somehow, someone knocked over a barrel of glaze powder, and the powder hung in the air, stinging eyes and obscuring vision.

It was absolute chaos. Such a large amount of people, all confined in such a tight space, with little room to swing weapons. Magnus ducked under a club and reached for his axe strapped across his back, but his hand brushed against Julia, who was back-to-back with him. Julia had a dagger in her hand, but she could only see so much in the crowded room. She was just as likely to stab an ally as she was an attacker. In her other hand, she clutched the pot holding the plans. They might be able to take the people, but people could hold up under torture, people could refuse to talk.

The plans just laid everything bare.

Time seemed to freeze as Julia spotted Anfrith and Leye out of the corner of her eye. Leye yielded a large war-hammer, and Anfrith swiped at attackers with his claws and blew a stream of fire at every opportunity, but they were just as restricted as the rest of them. Julia knew it was over the moment the two of them were taken down. A mercenary cruelly hauled Leye up by her beard, slamming her down onto the table, cuffing her hands. Anfrith, distracted by the sight of his wife being injured, didn’t see the baton coming for his head until it was too late. It slammed into his face, and his head jerked sideways, a fang coming loose and flying across the room.

For a moment, everything seemed to hang perfectly in the air. Julia seemed hyperaware of the chaos surrounding her.

She could see Anfrith, sinking to his knees and holding up his hands to avoid the onslaught of batons directed at him. Weapons were drawn, people mid-shout. Julia could feel Magnus at her back, could imagine his teeth drawn back in a snarl. She could see her dad, on the other side of the room, fending off a mercenary with a red-hot poker. The baker who used to give her cookies for free when she went shopping with her dad was falling into the fire, and looming over them was a mercenary, reaching for their hands with shackles. The herbalist who was friends with Julia’s mother was inching towards the door, almost to it, seemingly unnoticed by the mercenaries. All around her, Julia could feel the panic of the people- no, her people. It all culminated into one moment, when Julia locked eyes with Leye. She was unaware if the red streak on her face was from the glaze powder, or something worse.

Leye stared into her eyes, and barked one command, one that set urgency firing through Julia.

“Run!”, she cried.

Time came crashing back down in one instant. A wizard opened a portal out the wall, leading to who-knew-where, but everybody surged for the chance for freedom. Magnus put two hands on Julia’s back and pushed, and she found herself stumbling through the portal alongside the mass of people.

The portal opened up somewhere in the woods, alongside the bank of a stream. People ran and fled, gripping the hands of their neighbors and loved ones. Julia sprinted through the trees, one hand gripping the pot and the other holding her dagger. Magnus ran alongside her, having finally had the space to draw his axe.

They ran, peeling off slightly from the main group to put a bit of distance between them in case more mercenaries found them. The group ran for what seemed like ages, until they reached the edge of the woods, coming upon the edge of the farmlands. Beyond them, the rest of the countryside stretched out. Julia turned back to see the lights of Raven’s Roost flickering among the cliffs.

She panted, trying to catch her breath for a moment, before turning and taking stock of the people. She did a quick count, checking off faces and- A sudden realization turned her knees weak. Her father wasn’t there.

She counted again, frantically searching for his face in the crowd, but he wasn’t there. A feeling, deep in the pit of her stomach, was growing. She turned to Magnus.

“He’s not here,” she whispered. Magnus frowned.

“But he was just beside me,” he insisted. Steven had made his way across the room just before the portal was opened. Magnus could have sworn that he was beside them when they ran through the portal. Magnus scanned the crowd, searching for his mentor. Surely, he was just helping some other people, or with the stragglers.

But there was no sign of the carpenter among the crowd.

Beside him, Julia staggered. She bit off a whimper, sinking to crouch on the ground, holding the plans close to her chest. Tears gleamed in her eyes. She bit her lip, willing them not to fall. People had been captured, likely to be tortured, and she made it out alright, how selfish was she to be crying for her father like a little girl. Taking a few shaky breaths, she blinked away her tears and rose. She forced herself to speak past the lump in her throat.

“We’re missing about a quarter of our people,” she told Magnus.

“Jules,” he tried, reaching for her. She shrugged him off.

“We need to start finding ways to bring our people home. If people are still missing by sun-up, it’ll be obvious which people are involved. We need to bring people back by sunrise, in case they make a check.”

Magnus hurt to see her pushing her own grief away, even though he could understand the reasoning behind it.

“Julia,” he tried one last time.

“Magnus! Enough!” She snapped at him, her reddened eyes glaring at him with an intensity he wasn’t used to.

He stepped back, raising his hands, palms up. Julia took a deep breath, and surveyed her people.

“Can you start rounding up magic users with spell slots left.”

It wasn’t a question. Magnus left to do as she asked, not wishing to be on the receiving end of her ire anymore.

Soon, they had a small fleet of magic users channeling their efforts into making portals to send people back to their houses. Before the first people were off, Julia raised her voice to address the gathered crowd.

“Keep in touch with each other. We’ll figure this out, I know we will. Try to be in contact within the next three days. We can figure out where to go from there.”

With that send-off, people began to disperse.

Julia and Magnus were the last people to leave, just as the pre-dawn sky began to brighten as the moon sank below the horizon.

They stepped out of the portal into the kitchen of the Hammer and Tongs, only to be greeted by a familiar figure.

The second Julia had both feet on the ground, she was wrapped in a bone-crushing hug from Steven. She was so relieved to see her father safe and sound that she broke down, sobbing into his shoulder. The two of them stood there, wrapped up in a tight hug, until the sun rose through the window.

Magnus learned his throat, and went to make some coffee. It had been a long night, and it seemed that there was to be no end to it.

Just as Magnus was putting some eggs to fry in a pan, a knock at the door sounded.

Julia leapt up from the table where she had been regaling Steven with the tale of their escape. She grabbed her dagger from where it lay on the table, and Steven quickly slid the pot containing the diagrams into the cupboard. Julia peered through the curtains in the window by the door, and relaxed, opening the door to reveal Selsel. The young orc’s face was streaked with tears, and he sniffled even as Julia admitted him into the house, quickly shutting the door. Steven offered him a chair at the table, and Magnus made quick work of filling him a mug.

The orc took a drink and dabbed at his eyes with the sleeves of his cloak, before looking up at Julia.

“I heard how you handled everything,” he said. “I went around and talked to as many people as I could. I-“ he choked up, taking a moment to breathe and clear his throat.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see them until it was too late. I hid in a closet until they left, just like Aunt Leye told me to do.”

Julia leaned in and placed a comforting hand on his forearm.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save them. Are you doing alright? Do you need someplace to stay?”

Selsel shook his head.

“I’m staying with the herbalist in her cottage. Aunt Leye and Uncle Anfrith arranged it ahead of time, in case something like this happened.”

Selsel took a drink before looking back at Julia.

“That’s not the only thing they planned out. Julia, they wanted you to lead in case something ever happened to them. I heard them talking about it one night, after a meeting. That’s why they promoted you, so it wouldn’t seem so much like favoritism as much as experience. And last night, you stepped up. I’ve talked to as many people as I could, and they’re willing to accept you as our leader. They respect you, they trust you. If you don’t want to, I understand. But it’s something that should have been yours a long time ago. They said you just weren’t ready for it yet.”

Julia could hardly think beyond the blood rushing in her ears. Leading the rebellion? She wanted to do so, yes, she always had. But under these circumstances? It wasn’t the way she wanted it. Not like this. She looked to Magnus and her father, hoping that one of them would say something, turn it down for her, do anything-

Magnus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“We’re behind you every step of the way, Jules.”

Julia closed her eyes. She needed to do this. She gathered her thought for a moment, and turned to Selsel.

“I’ll do it,” she said. What she wanted didn’t matter, what her people needed was what mattered.

Selsel nodded, a smile playing across his face.

“I knew you would. I’ll go tell everybody you agreed. I’ll be in touch in three days, like you said.”

With that, he left the Hammer and Tongs, leaving Julia to the weight of her new position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I just wanted to say thank you for sticking with this for as long as it’s been going- and it’s gonna be a long one- so I just wanted to let ya’ll know how much I appreciate you. 
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello wonderful children it’s update time

In the weeks after the raid on the pottery shop, Julia did the best she could to pick up the pieces left to her by Leye and Anfrith. The spies working in the manor reported that the couple had been brought in, along with about a dozen more members, but aside from the initial sightings from their capture, there was no sign of them within the manor. Julia’s best guess was that they were either being held somewhere in the manor, or dead. It was hard to get the remaining members of the rebellion to come to meetings in one place, but their concerns of capture were understandable. Julia couldn’t fault them. After all, they had taken precautions with the pottery shop, and that still wasn’t safe enough in the end. Most of the meetings were held in the woods, near farms, and on one memorable occasion, standing in a pond behind the herbalist’s cottage during broad daylight.

Julia took to the work with single-minded determination, but it still seemed like something was missing from her work. The days dragged by, spent by Julia pouring over maps and charts. If she was in the house, she was either feverishly studying documents alone in her room, and when she wasn’t in the house, she was out briefing members and directing spies and making preparations. She worked endlessly, but that spark in her eyes faded as the days went by. More than once, Magnus or Steven found her asleep at the kitchen table, her hair wildly spread over maps and lists of cargo shipments to the manor.

Magnus couldn’t understand the sudden drop in Julia’s demeanor. She had even stopped working in the forge, something she loved to do. He was so focused on Julia and what he could do to help her that he didn’t notice a similar affect in Steven. Until one morning, while the two men were working in the shop, Steven began to talk. At first, it was about nothing in particular, statements about the weather and stories from his youth. But as the day wore on, the stories began to center around one particular figure: his wife.

They started out as small stories, about how she liked her coffee and how she brought home a rabbit with a bad leg, how she liked clever humor and would laugh at puns for hours. Eventually, Steven stopped sanding the top of the desk he was working on. His eyes stared straight ahead at the wall, almost like he was seeing through it, seeing another time. He talked on autopilot, and Magnus felt his dread build in the bottom of his stomach when he realized what this story would be about.

_Three years ago, before Magnus was found staggering around the woods, before Kalen built the gallows in the town square, before anybody had even heard of Kalen the Mad Governor, on a warm day in early spring, a mother and daughter planted flowers in the garden boxes lining the paths that connected the various shops within the town square. The mother had a kind face, with warm eyes and laughter lines. She had a beauty mark on her left cheekbone, and freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her hands, rough from years of farming, were still gentle as she placed a tulip bulb in a small hole in the planter. As she watered the bulb and patted soil and fertilizer around it, she hummed a song to encourage the little plant to reach for the sun and bloom. The bulb, recognizing the power in a bard’s song, began to sprout, a tiny shoot peeking out of the soil._

_Beside her mother, Julia smiled at the sprout. It was the first life to come to be in these planter boxes, and Julia was so excited. She built the boxes herself, her first project on her own as a carpenter, commissioned to her by the governor himself!_

_“Mom, doesn’t that count as cheating?” Julia teased. Her mother smiled indulgently. “I only encouraged it. It’s not cheating if it had the potential to become the sprout all along, isn’t it?”_

_Julia conceded the point, moving her attention back to her own row of seeds. She hummed along with her mother. Even though she might not be a bard, she recognized the song. It was a cheery folk song about finding the good in the night, and it was a song that she remembered from her childhood, from lively renditions played on a fiddle or piano at a dance or a slower version sang to her during the storms that would thunder so loud they shook the house._

_Julia didn’t get the chance to cover the next seed in soil, because screams rent the air. Julia looked around, searching for the source of the noise. She didn’t see much, but the screaming was coming from the Technology Corridor. She picked up her spade, the only thing that could even remotely pass as a weapon, before running off towards the bridge that separated the town square from the Technology Corridor. Ignoring her mother’s shouts of her name, she ran on, crossing the rickety bridge to come upon a scene of destruction._

_Unlike the rest of the corridors that make up the city of Raven’s Roost, the Technology Corridor had it’s own connecting bridge to the surrounding lands of Faerun. While the Craftsman’s Corridor would have to go through the town square to reach the bridge to take them to the rest of the countryside, the Technology Corridor had so many imports and exports that they required a bridge just for them._

_Raiders had just come up that bridge, seemingly hellbent on pillaging the entire town._

_They came in large wagons, with archers perched on the sides, shooting into buildings and crowds of people. Julia watched in mounting horror as a large warrior reached down from the helm of the wagon with his sword and slashed at the legs of those fleeing. More raiders seemed to swarm endlessly out of the backs of wagons, disappearing into shops and buildings, only to return with gold and valuables. A screaming gnome man ran into a building, seeking cover from the onslaught, only to be followed by a hulking man brandishing a club. Gritting her teeth, Julia rushed after the two, armed only with a gardening spade and pure rage. However, she only made it about ten steps before the shop beside her exploded in a ball of fire and light, raining glass down on her and throwing her backwards into the street._

_Julia panted, trying to catch her breath, ignoring the pain in her entire left side as she forced herself to stand up. Her ears rang loudly, unable to hear the crescendo of screaming as the crowd ran for the bridge to the town square. It was their only method of escape, and someone, anyone had to warn the rest of the town about the destruction coming their way. Gasping, Julia staggered her way into the center of the crowd, running as fast as they could. She could hear the wagons and raiders gaining on them, but she didn’t dare look back. Eventually, by some force of luck, she made it to the town square, where she ducked behind one of her planter boxes for some cover, hunkering down until the ringing in her ears ceased some. After a moment of rest, she stood, looking for either her mother or someone to fight._

_She found both._

_The wagons hadn’t made the journey up the bridge yet, since the bridge was so narrow they were forced to go one at a time across._

_But the raiders on foot made it, and were in the process of destroying the town square._

_Julia saw her mother across the square, taking up a defensive position in the doorway to the pawn shop, wielding only a dagger. Behind her, Julia saw the frightened faces of the tabaxi family who ran the shop. Julia ran to join her mother in defending the family, but before she could make it to her side, Julia watched as an arrow pierced her mother’s chest._

_It was as if it happened in slow motion. Her mother looked down at the fletching protruding from her chest, seemingly surprised at how it got there. She reached up to touch it, maybe to pull it out, to stroke the feathers on the end, anything- but before she could do that, a second arrow sank into her sternum._

_As Julia’s mother collapsed, Julia_ screamed _. It was an awful shriek, one that wouldn’t seem possible for her to produce. Julia didn’t remember the mad scramble to her mother’s body, only that she got there somehow, and that the body was still warm when Julia, with the help of the tabaxi family, pulled it inside to take cover from the chaos outside. Julia didn’t remember the end of the battle, didn’t remember the war cry from the citizens from other corridors, with her father leading the charge from the Craftsman’s Corridor. She didn’t notice Anfrith peering in the window, didn’t remember him pulling her to her feet._

_She did remember her father running up to her, grabbing her arms, shaking her._

_“Where’s your mother? Julia, where is she?”_

_Julia only stared blankly at the ground. Tears didn’t fall from her eyes. ‘_ Am I broken?’ _She wondered. ‘_ My mother is dead, and I’m not crying. Something is wrong with me.’

_Steven began to get more agitated._

_“Julia! She was with you, you were both here, I-“_

_There was a shuffling noise behind Julia. She turned to look, to see Anfrith carrying her mother’s body in his arms. The dragonborn shook his head._

_“No,” Steven whispered, face crumpling. “No, no,_ no _...”_

_Steven managed a few staggering steps towards the body of his wife, but curled inwards on himself as he went. He fell to the ground as large sobs shook his body, rolled onto his back as he wailed his grief to the sky._

_Distantly, Julia noticed that the planter box she and her mother had been working in had been tipped over, onto its side, all the dirt and seeds spilling onto the ground._

“She was buried in the local cemetery,” Steven said, absently wiping his hands on a rag tucked into his belt. “It’s coming up on three years since she died now. Jules, she...” He paused for a moment, considering his words. “She tends to shut herself off around the anniversary. She’ll come back to herself in a few days, but I haven’t seen her get this bad since the first year.”

Magnus dipped his brush into the can of polish, brushing it over the spindles of the chair he was working on.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Steven shook his head and picked up the sandpaper once again.

“Not much, just be ready to listen and let her come to you. Don’t try and force it. She’ll get over it on her own time, no matter how inconvenient it is at the moment.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Magnus went back to his work.

The next day, Magnus let himself into the Hammer and Tongs at dawn to find Julia sitting at the kitchen table, perusing some diagram of the woods.

“Morning,” he rumbled. Julia looked up at him, eyes alert despite the dark circles under them.

“Morning,” she replied. She stood from the table and stretched.

“Have you been down here all night?” Magnus was hesitant to ask. Nobody liked to be on the receiving end of Julia’s ire, and she had been prickly about her sleeping and work habits as of late.

“Not all night, just-“ she broke off to muffle a yawn in the crook of her arm. “Just since before the sun began to rise.”

She cut him off just as he began to protest and insist that she get more sleep.

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, and besides, I want you to meet someone today!”

Magnus perked up.

“Oh, is it an informant? A spy within the manor? Or, maybe, one of Kalen’s men is defecting! That’s who is it, isn’t it?”

Julia smiled at Magnus’s enthusiam.

“You’ll see soon enough.” She grabbed her cloak from the hook by the door and brushed past Magnus.

The two of them walked in the sunlight, neither saying anything when their hands brushed as they walked.

Julia led them to a place Magnus had never seen before, a quiet spot on the outskirts of town. They passed under a decorative iron wrought gate, taking a trail through the pine woods until they came to a field, surrounded by a fence, fashioned to look similar to the gate they passed by earlier. Dew still glimmered and speckled the field, steam rising up in wisps as the sun shone. It would have been beautiful, if it weren’t for the rows of gravestones.

Julia led them towards the back of the graveyard, towards a headstone that featured a bird in flight, and a date.

The two of them shared a glance, before Julia rocked back and forth on her feet.

“Hi, mom,” she said, giving the headstone a little wave. “It’s me, and I brought somebody for you to meet.”

Magnus bowed his head towards the headstone. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Julia grabbed his arm.

“This is Magnus Burnsides. He’s Dad’s new apprentice, and he’s helping me with the Rebellion. He’s funny, and kind, and brave, and a little foolhardy, sometimes,” Magnus smiled at the good-natured teasing. “And I think you would really like him!”

Julia leaned against Magnus, using her grip on his arm to support herself.

  
“They’ve made me the leader, mom. They want me to lead the Rebellion. And I know what you would say, and I want to make you proud, but... What if I can’t do it? What if I screw everything up? We’ve already lost so many people... That bakery you loved, the one in the Market Corridor, the one with the cheese bread, the one that used to give us free cookies? They were one of the first to be taken away by Kalen. They took Anfrith and Leye, mom. What if-“

Julia broke off, the lump in her throat hard to speak around.

“What if they take dad? How many people is too many? What if they take dad, just to get to me? What if I fail, and so many more of my people get hurt?”

Julia wiped her eyes, but it was too late. Tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed into Magnus’s sleeve. Magnus was unable to extricate himself from Julia’s grasp and hug her, so he settled for rubbing circles on her back. Julia sniffled.

“I’m trying so hard to make you proud, mom. I really am, and I know this is what you’d want me to do.”

Julia sniffled again, wiping her eyes and face. A breeze blew, ratting the leaves on the trees and sending Julia’s curls dancing. Maybe Julia’s ears were playing tricks on her, maybe she was just hearing what she wanted to hear, but as the wind whistled by her ears, she heard the faint melody of a bard’s song, telling her to find the good in the night.

Julia nodded.

“You were so brave, mom. You saved those people, and if I can only be a quarter as brave and as strong as you were, then... Well, that’ll be enough for this.”

She smiled down at the grave. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled put a wooden rose, petals carved with care.

“Thanks, mom. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

With that, the two of them left the graveyard, heading back towards their town, and their people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of this one! I absolutely love love love getting comments, they make my day! 
> 
> And, as always, thank you for sticking around!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hail and well met, dear readers! I hope you’re enjoying the story so far, I know I’m having fun just writing it! Some news: I’m almost finished with th first half of the story! Just a few more chapters until I’ve caught up and posted everything I’ve written so far. Hopefully, I can get my ass in gear and keep writing at a decent pace to post weekly, but it’s more likely that I’ll have to go to every other week in a few weeks. 
> 
> But that’s for later to worry about! For now, it’s time for an update! 
> 
> P.s., see the end notes for some possible warnings in this chapter!

“You mean to tell me,” Julia growled, leaning over the forge’s worktable, strewn with maps and schedules and diagrams, “that he just up and decided to throw a party for everybody?”

Three stony-faced spies stood opposite her across the table, arms crossed as they delivered the news to the Rebellion leader.

“It seems like he’s trying to change up the dates on us,” one explained. “He’s being unpredictable on purpose. We can’t act on unpredictability.”

Julia wiped a hand across her face, considering her options. She heaved a sigh, before straightening.

“Thank you,” she said, and dismissed her spies. They slipped out the back door of the forge, leaving her to her thoughts.   
Julia cleaned up her documents, putting them back into the hidden clay pot. She quenched the embers still smoldering in the forge before leaving and locking the door behind her. She entered the back door to the Hammer and Tongs, and was greeted by the sound of wood sawing in the workshop. She made her way over to the doorway and watched Magnus, who was had at work cutting table legs to the correct length. She waited until he lifted the bandsaw to start a new cut before softly knocking on the door jam. Magnus looked up, a wide grin crinkling his eyes once he saw her.

“Hey!” He greeted. She smiled in greeting and slipped inside the doorway to hoist herself up to sit on the workbench along the wall, watching him work.

“How’s it going?” She asked, gesturing to the table-in-progress.

Magnus leaned back to study his work.

“Pretty good, these legs are giving me shit, though. The wood was a little warped when it came in, and it doesn’t want to agree with me.”

Julia tilted her head to one side as she considered the table. Warped wood or not, the legs seemed a little... strange.

“Legs’re a little wonky, Mags. Are you measuring from the bottom of the table, or just based on the number of inches?”

Magnus looked up at her, confused.

“I’m measuring based on inches, so it’s uniform. That’s what Steven told me to do.”

Julia absently chewed the inside of her cheek.

“He taught me to measure from where it’s gonna be attached... Hey, Mags, are all the legs screwed on?”

“Yeah...?”

“Do me a favor, and stand it upright for me.”

Magnus heaved himself to his feet before grabbing the half-finished table and flipping it to stand on its legs.

Perhaps, _attempted_ to stand is a better way of phrasing it. The poor, poor table wobbled back and forth on three uneven legs for a moment, before pitching forward in the direction of its fourth, stubby leg that was altogether too short for the rest of it.

Magnus, in a moment of confusion, had measured and cut two legs based on the number of inches in the plans for the table, but one of those legs was also measured from where the leg was supposed to attach to the table surface. The third was measured from where it was attached to the table, and the stubby leg was the result of misremembering the correct length of the table legs.

  
Magnus and Julia both stared at the defeated, fucked-up table for a long moment. Magnus put his hands on his hips as he considered all the moments he went wrong, and for a second, he considered leaving his chosen trade altogether.

Julia stared at the tiny, obviously incorrect table leg, and bit her lip, trying as hard as she could not to laugh. Styles got confused all the time, and these kinds of mistakes were very common in beginners, even to experts. She didn’t want to laugh, and have Magnus think she was laughing at him-

Beside her, Magnus let out a very quiet, small, and defeated “aw.”

That did her in.

With the mental image of the table giving up and pitching forward, and the stubby leg staring her dead in the eyes, she let out a raucous scream of laughter. She wheezed, gasping for breath as Magnus righted his pitiful little table and attempted to stand it up again, only for the same thing to happen. Tears sprang to her eyes and she wailed, doubling over on herself.

Julia’s laughter only faded after Magnus took a hammer to his table, removing the legs and tossing them to the scrap pile. Eventually, Julia gathered herself up and helped him remove the nails. Still giggling to herself, she placed her hand on his forearm.

“I’m sorry, Magnus. T-these thing happen all the time, d-“ she took a deep breath to stop the giggles. “Don’t worry about it.”

Magnus shrugged, the incident already behind him.

“Not a big deal,” he said, removing his apron and placing it on a hook by the door. “I wasn’t really a big fan of the way it was turning out, anyways.”

The two of them made their way into the kitchen, where Julia spotted a festival poster on the kitchen counter. Her mood instantly soured. She roughly opened cabinets as she began to gather up the ingredients for dinner.

“What are we gonna do about that,” Magnus asked, taking his place beside her, joining her at the counter. “We were planning on the manor infiltration this coming month, right?”

Julia nodded as she poured oil in a pan on the stove. “We’ll have to postpone, because security is going to be doubled on the manor while the festival is going on, and there’s a chance that the travelers could be more of Kalen’s men, or, at the least, spies.”

The two made dinner in silence, which was only broken when Steven returned from the market, and joined them.

The next three days were slow, spent stewing in spring rainstorms and resentment.

On the fourth day, citizens of Raven’s Roost awoke to find the town square completely redone, outfitted with tents and shops and wagons and a stage.

Music spilled into the air, and lights conjured by magic users hung in the spring breeze. The days were filled with games and plays and shopping and food, and the nights with dances and concerts.

Julia decided that it was better to join in the festivities rather than be branded the outlier by Kalen. It wasn’t hard to get involved in the fun, seeing as there was so much of it. She shopped with some of her friends, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over new fabrics from distant lands, and spent some of her money on a lovely silky lace she could make into a nightgown of sorts.

Magnus occupied his time watching plays and betting against others in the community that he could outdo them in various games. He nearly came to blows with one carney, who despite their protests otherwise, had obviously rigged the game.

On the third day of the festival, mid afternoon, a new wagon rolled into the town square. This one was painted a bright pink all over, and purple-and-glitter letters on the side proclaimed it to “Sizzle It Up!”

This wagon came with a lot of buzz amongst the townsfolk, many of whom were very excited, some already clutching cookbooks bearing the same title as the wagon. Nobody saw much activity from the wagon all day, except for a human man, who would on occasion run from the wagon to and from the market, and he always returned clutching produce to his chest.

In the evening, once the sun began its decent below the cliffs, once a large crowd of people had gathered around the wagon, the side hatch on the wagon swung upwards.

The fans in the gathered crowd cheered wildly, and some lights within the wagon flashed. Once the glare dissipated, a slender elf man was revealed within the wagon, decked out in a bright pink apron, leaning jauntily against the front counter. He smiled at the gathered crowd, tossing his long, braided hair over his shoulder. Once the cheers died down, he spread his arms in a grand gesture.

“Welcome to Sizzle it Up with Taako!”

The crowd went wild once more, and the elf smiled, soaking it all in.

“It’s great to be here in Raven’s Roost with everybody, I hope you all came hungry!”

Taako leaned in, his elbows on the counter.

“Now,” he began, “I have the perfect recipe for you tonight: potato and chicken crockpot stew! Hearty, perfect for sticking to your ribs after a day of hard work! Hell, you can just leave it to cook all day, and it’ll come out nice and tender for you in the end. On the side, we’re gonna have my aunt’s ‘oh-shit’ biscuits, perfect for if you just want something else in a short amount of time, or the neighbors popped in without calling first, I hear that’s a thing that can happen in small towns like this.”

People in the crowd laughed, elbowing their friends, presumably those who were wont to drop in unannounced.

Taako twirled his wrist, and a small shower of sparks flitted from his fingertips.

Magnus originally thought it was just a cooking show, but the magic caught his eye. Magic had always intrigued him, maybe because he couldn’t do any himself.

A quick glance at Julia told him she was similarly enraptured.

The elf went on to prepare the aforementioned meal, transmutating various ingredients as he did.

“Now, some people might like this prepared with corn in it,” Taako said, gesturing with an ear. “But we’re gonna keep it simple this time around, and really, as long as you have the basics of the stew down pat, you can play with it however you want, my dudes.”

With a wave of his hand, the ear of corn turned into a few small, red potatoes. Taako did the same thing with a few more ears of corn, dropping the potatoes into the broth simmering in the pot.

“Now, you might say, ‘ _Taako, why should we use these little potatoes? Shouldn’t we use bigger ones_?’” Taako held up the last potato and examined it in the light. “Sure, you could use the big ones, but consider: size doesn’t matter, only what you do with it.”

With a saucy wink, he tossed the potato in the pot and used mage hand to chop up the chicken.

The rest of the show passed in a similar manner, until it was the time that everybody in the crowd had been waiting for. The man they had seen running around town that day passed out little sample bowls of stew and a half of a biscuit to the assembled crowd.

Taako held a similar bowl, and together, him and the crowd tried the stew.

It seemed... familiar to Magnus, somehow. As if he had eaten it before. He tried not to dwell on the uncomfortable buzzing sensation in the back of his head, but as he tried to remember where he had eaten the stew before, it got worse and worse.

His face must have screwed up in concentration, because Julia elbowed him and whispered, “You okay?”

Magnus looked at her, surprised.

“Yeah, just fine, what’s up?”

Julia shrugged.

“You just seem... sad, I guess. Distant, really.”

Magnus shrugged, doing his best to push back the buzzing static.

“The food, it just... I guess it just reminds me of home, that’s all.”

Magnus smiled at Julia.

“I’m okay, though, I swear.”

Julia smiled back.

“If you insist. Hey, let’s go dance, they’re playing some folk music over at the stage.”

Before Magnus could resist, Julia looped her arm through his and pulled him away from the crowd and towards the leaping violins and fiddles.

Across the crowd, Taako stared at the retreating man, being led away by a young woman. There was a staticky feeling in the back of his head that was starting to give him a headache as he watched the man go. Taako stared until he was startled out of his trance by a hand clapping down on his shoulder.

“I hope everything is going okay,” Sazed growled, startling Taako out of his trance.

Taako forced a smile up at the larger man.

“Everything’s fine, m’dude.”

“You were staring at that other man.”

“It was nothing, Sazzy.”

Taako risked a glance back at the crowd, but the man was gone. He turned his attention to appeasing his partner.

“Just thought I recognized someone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an implied, very, very slightly implied abusive relationship between Taako and Sazed. Partners should never be controlling or extremely jealous, and if they are, you should examine your relationship.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it,,, the moment we’ve all been waiting for
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I’d like to apologize in advance, because even I know this one isn’t my best but I have no idea on how to improve it! 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!

Magnus would be the first to admit that he wasn’t the biggest fan of springtime. The days were either too hot or too cold, it rained too often for his tastes, and the pollen made his nose itch and eyes water.

But for all of his complaints, he still liked spring nights. Nights when the moon and stars hung in the sky, and the darkness of space seemed benevolent and welcoming, like a home, pulling him in with a warm breeze.

It was one such night that Magnus found his home.

Magnus and Julia sat in Julia’s room, hunched over piles of maps and papers spread wildly across her too-small desk. Their fingers crossed as they traced over trails and paths, considering options and ideas.

“But if we go along here,” Julia said, indicating to a dotted line on the map in front of her, “we can go up the cliff side and come up on the back of the manor. The reports told me that he has less security there, because he doesn’t think anyone would be able to climb it.”

Magnus countered, brow furrowing.

“But there’s no cover, and we’d be climbing the cliff from the ground-up. If we take my way,” he traced over a solid line in blue, “we get cover from the trees and cover from the garden in front of the manor.”

“There’s less of a distance to move across from the back, and less guards to take out.”

“But somebody might see them if we get rid of them! We can’t just throw the bodies off the cliff!”

“Magnus, somebody might see us in front! It’s a risk no matter what we decide to do!”

Outside the window, a bird, awoken by their raised voices, croaked irritably.

Julia and Magnus froze, fearing the worst. After a moment, when nothing else moved, they continued on, albeit at a lower volume.

Julia leaned back in her chair, rubbing at her eyes, a sign escaping her lips.

“It’s late, we can continue this in the morning.”

Magnus groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

“Good idea.” He rose from his seat and padded to the window, checking to make sure it was clear before he made his way back to his apartment.

It was not. Marching down the street of the Craftsmen’s Corridor was a patrol of Kalen’s men, armed with torches and blades that gleamed in the light.

“Oh, shit,” Magnus whispered, and turned back to Julia, drawing the curtains over her window as he did.

Julia looked up from putting the maps and papers away.

“Patrol?”

Magnus nodded, making his way back over to the desk and grabbed the lantern, prepared to extinguish it, when Julia grabbed his wrist. They were very close now, almost leaning in on each other.

“Don’t,” she said. “What will they do, burst into someone’s house because they’re up late? They don’t have a reason to be suspicious.”

At her reasoning, Magnus released the shutter, but not the lantern.

He was glad he didn’t. Julia was absolutely beautiful, her dark skin reflecting the warm glow of the light, eyes gleaming in anticipation of a challenge, an unruly lock of curly hair hanging over her face. She truly was the most beautiful woman that Magnus had ever met, and that realization wasn’t a particularly shocking one. It wasn’t even a new realization, since Magnus had thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world the first time he met her in the woods.

_He then remembered, a few weeks ago, dancing at the springtime festival with her. Watching her jump, shuffling her feet in time with the lively fiddles and chants of music she recalled from her childhood. The dancing platform was made of wood, raised a few inches off the dirt, with the band above them on a stage, straw covering the ground, and conjured lights handing above them in long lines that circled above the dancers. Julia danced like she was born to do so, carving out her own space as she twirled and leapt, her hair and dress spinning around her in a dizzying halo. Magnus danced along with her, stilted and awkward, until she took both his hands in hers and moved his arms in time to the music with her._

_He remembered the music building up to a tremendous crescendo, fiddles going faster and faster and the drums beat, beat, beating louder and louder, until with a crash and screech of strings, the music stopped, along with the dancers. The gathered clapped enthusiastically, and Julia took the moment in between songs to push her hair back, away from her face, grinning breathlessly at Magnus. Magnus thought she was beautiful then, too._

_He thought she was beautiful when she worked, hunched over the forge or directing people to their positions or ordering supplies for the shop, or teasing Magnus for a carpentry mistake or running in the dark of the night for a mission more important than the both of them were, or even when she just looked at him. She was so strong, stronger than him, in so many ways, and that made her all the more beautiful._

No, knowing that Julia was truly the most beautiful woman in the world was not a new realization. Magnus greeted that like an old friend, something simple and commonplace.

And, somewhere, in that moment, frozen in time, illuminated by lamplight, Magnus realized that he was in love.

It didn’t come as a shock, it simply was. Magnus Burnsides is, was, will always be and has always been in love with Julia Waxman.

While Magnus watched Julia, Julia watched back.

Magnus, dear sweet Magnus. Hotheaded, clumsy, emotional Magnus. Julia looked at him in the soft lamplight, felt his wrist under her hand, his skin still soft despite working in the workshop, despite all his adventures and fights before he stumbled into Raven’s Roost and her chaotic life. It seemed that her life was divided up into sections, into “pre-Magnus” and “post-Magnus”. He gave her stability, something to hang onto in the storm of the Rebellion, something to look forward to at the end of the day and something to enjoy seeing in the morning.

 _Magnus, who cried over puppies and claimed jellyfish were his favorite animal, who once tried to scale a cliff side just to make her laugh. Magnus, who fought so fiercely to protect her town and family, Magnus, who was always kind and understanding even on the worst of her days, Magnus, who let her fight her own battles, Magnus, who carved ducks from anything he could get his hands on, Magnus, who jokingly called himself “_ the Hammer _” and “_ the Bear _” in Elvish, Magnus, who sought to love anyone and everything unconditionally._

For Julia, it was a bit more sudden, just a moment where she considered him and his kind, warm eyes, and thought, “ _Oh! I think I might love him, too.”_

The moment where they regarded each other in their realizations hung in time for a moment, and was broken when Magnus reached out, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled, and before she could overthink it, she closed her eyes, leaned forward, and kissed him.

There was a heart-stopping moment where Magnus didn’t move, and then he lowered the lantern to the desk and stepped closer to her, lifting her chin with one finger, and kissed her again.

The two gravitated closer, Julia’s arms wrapping around his shoulders, Magnus’s hands pulling her in, one hand on her arm and the other on her back.

They broke apart, and smiled softly at each other. They didn’t have to say what they were thinking, and it went on, an unspoken truth, but they were comfortable in its silence. It would be said when it was time, and not before then. The two of them stood on the cusp of something great, and frightening, and possibly tragic, but they knew that if they leaned on each other, then they would make it out on the other side just fine, and all the stronger for it.

Julia put her hand on Magnus’s face, rested her forehead on his.

“We sure have impeccable timing, huh?” She laughed. Magnus huffed in agreement.

“We sure do, Jules. But we can make it work, I know we can.”

Julia closed her eyes.

“It’s pretty late, and the patrol would catch you if you tried to go home now. I would say you could sleep in here, but my dad has a habit of coming in without knocking, so...” she trailed off as Magnus laughed quietly.

“I can sleep in the apartment out back,” he said, finishing her thought for her.

She beamed at him. Magnus let her go and headed for the door. He stepped through it, unwilling to take his eyes off her for any longer than he had to.

“Goodnight, Jules,” he murmured, about to pull the door shut behind him.

Before he could, Julia dashed forward and kissed him once more, soft and sweet.

“Goodnight, Mags.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! Thank you all for your wonderful comments, they make my day!

When Magnus first began to settle down in Raven’s Roost, he never considered rock climbing to be an essential skill that he needed to have, but there he was, scaling a sheer cliff face to climb up into the back lawn of Kalen’s manor, perched on a cliff high above the town. About three feet above him, Julia picked her way along the rocky wall, occasionally sending a small shower of pebbles down onto Magnus, which would bounce off into the darkness below him, disappearing from sight.

They had one goal for this mission: infiltrate the manor, and try to discover the whereabouts of the captured citizens. Spies who worked inside the manor told them that Kalen had a small door in his basement that nobody but himself and a select few of his men had keys for, and nothing else in the manor gave way any clues as to where the prisoners were being held. So, a secret mission it was.

Under the cover of darkness, Magnus and Julia slipped away, following a carefully planned route through the forest and around behind the manor, avoiding all sight lines from the manor. From there, they worked their way around to the back of the manor and began to climb.

It had been about three weeks since Magnus and Julia started dating, and things were going well. They worked well together as a team, and the change in their relationship was very minor, the biggest one being that one night a week they went on a date night somewhere in Raven’s Roost, and that they could be openly affectionate with each other. Magnus learned very quickly that Julia was a very tactile person, she never shied away from holding his hand when they walked, or resting her head on his arm, or propping his head on his shoulder behind him while he worked. Magnus, a tactile person himself, didn’t mind in the slightest, and he only wished that the circumstances of their relationship were better.

After all, nothing says “romantic” like breaking and entering the house and possible torture-chamber of your tyrant leader!

For people as strong and athletic as Magnus and Julia, the climb didn’t take too much of a toll on them, but as they reached the top of the cliff, Magnus’s fingers were cramping and Julia’s arms were shaking. Julia climbed over the edge first, after checking for any guards, and then she reached her arm down to Magnus. Magnus climbed up, using her last footholds as handholds, but that’s when he felt the rock begin to crumble beneath his fingers.

“Shit,” he whispered, and tightened his hold instinctively. Julia’s arm was just too high for him to reach.

“Come on, take my hand,” Julia urged, waving it.

The rock crumbled more, and Magnus reached up, straining for her fingers. Their fingertips brushed, but no real contact was made. Magnus reached, but the rock completely fell away.

“Magnus!”

Julia leaned down as far as she dared risk, just as Magnus pushed off the rock face using his meager footholds, and their hands clasped.

“I’ve got you! Come on, climb!”

Julia pulled as hard as she could as Magnus’s feet scrabbled against the cliff, and Julia grabbed the back of Magnus’s shirt and hauled him up beside her at the top of the cliff.

The two of them lay on their back for a moment, panting, letting the adrenaline and panic fade.

Breathlessly, they grinned at each other. Magnus was the first to stand, and he offered his hand to Julia, to used it to haul herself up off the ground.

Fortunately, no guards had been in the back of the manor when they climbed up, but they saw a light beginning to round the corner. Julia gestured for Magnus to follow her, and he did, the two of them slinking around the dark corners of the manor until they came to a door. After quickly peeking inside, they crept in, quietly closing the door behind them, just as the guard made his way towards where they had climbed up.

They had arrived inside some sort of mud room, possibly for the servants to arrive in, or maybe for the Governor himself. Either way, it was dark inside the room, but the small window set into the top of the door that lead to the rest of the house was illuminated by a warm glow. Julia quickly climbed the shoe racks set into the walls and peered through the window. When she didn’t see anybody in the hall, she jumped down, letting Magnus open the door and check the hallway once more. They stepped out into the empty hallway, decorated with elaborate pictures of mountains and nature scenes and portraits of important looking people of all races. They passed eerie photos of an orc, seated prim and proper at some kind of ornate desk, a human dressed in battle-worn armor, a gnome resting his foot on the severed head of an elf.

The walls and floors were all polished wood, and there was a long red carpet set into the middle of the hallway. Above them, sconces were set into the walls at even intervals, filling the hallway with golden light.

At the end of the hallway there was another door, and in the middle of the hall it branched off into another corridor. A quick look showed this hallway to be empty as well, and with a shrug, Magnus veered down it. Julia quickly followed, her steps light and cautious. It was incredibly important that they stay quiet. If they were caught, it would be the end of them.

The new hallway was decorated similarly to the other, with the exception of more doors running up and down it. However, these doors were locked, but no sounds came from inside when they tried the handles.

The next hallway over was similar, with one crucial difference: instead of multiple doors on each side of the hall, there was one door, set into the middle of the hall. It was open, and light spilled out of it, along with voices. None of the sconces on the wall were lit in this hallway, so the light from the open door was the only source of illumination. As Magnus and Julia crept closer, the hair on the back of Julia’s neck began to stand up. She hadn’t heard that voice for three years, at least since the gallows were built in the town square.

Kalen was in that room.

Ignoring the fear twisting in her stomach, Julia leaned around the doorway, just enough to see Kalen and another man. Kalen stood behind his desk, facing away from the hallway, staring out a window that overlooked the from garden of his manor. In front of the desk stood another man, his arms tight to his side, standing at rapid attention, watching the governor.

Julia and Magnus crouched low in the shadows and listened to the conversation.

“And you still have not found the new location for the insurgents?”

Kalen’s voice was still heavy with gravitas, just how Julia remembered it. He was charismatic, if you didn’t think too hard about what he was doing to you or your community. Kalen was a man who was used to saying what he desired, and having someone else make it happen for him. If he said jump, you asked how high while in midair. It was how he managed to charm his way into the position of governor after the old one died of old age.

“No, sir. We think that they keep moving it, sir. They’re proving hard for us to nail down, sir.”

Kalen hummed disapprovingly.

“You’ll keep at it, I trust. Meanwhile, have any of our... _guests_ told us anything of use?”

The other man shook his head.

“Not yet, sir. The bakers truly don’t know anything, and that orc that ran the market corridor is stronger than they look, sir, they don’t seem close to breaking soon, sir. We found a method that seems like it’s close to breaking the potters, sir, the ones we captured from the raid on the insurgents. They don’t like seeing the other being interrogated, sir. The captain thinks we’ll break them soon, sir.”

Kalen turned and sat at his desk, nodding approvingly at the man. He pulled out a map from a desk in his drawer and spread it across the surface of the desk.

“Now, tell me,” he said, pointing at a point on the map, “have the scouts reported back yet?”

The man nodded, and launched into the next report.

“They arrived some time last night. They said that it’s a small town, but the economy is good, mainly focused on mining, but a growing farming community, sir.”

Kalen nodded before circling something on the map, jotting down notes.

“Tell the captain to prepare a trip there, take a fleet of wagons, come back with as much as you can carry. I want to see what they have for myself before I make the decision.”

“Yes, sir!”

With a lazy wave of his hand, Kalen dismissed the man, who left the room, brushing past where Magnus and Julia watched, hidden in the shadows.

“We have to make it down to the basement,” Julia whispered in Magnus’s ear, urgency flooding every word. “That’s where they’re keeping Anfrith and Leye.”

Magnus nodded, and the two hesitantly made their way down to the bottom floor, creeping and jumping at the slightest noise.

Eventually they stood outside the small door in the basement of the manor. Only Kalen and his men were allowed inside this door, but the spies hadn’t actually bothered to try and go inside, assuming it was locked.

If it was actually locked, they would be completely fucked.

Magnus shrugged at Julia, who worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Only one way to find out,” he joked, and turned the handle.

Amazingly, the door wasn’t locked, and together they entered a stone room, filled with cells. Each of the cells was occupied with people, some in groups, others alone. Some looked up at them, some didn’t. Some began to whisper to each other at the sight of new people, others shushed them. Magnus wished he could save each and every one of them, but at the moment the mission called for finding Anfrith and Leye.

Julia found them, crammed into a tiny cell at the back of the room, with Anfrith curled around Leye protectively. The old dragonborn’s eyes widened when he saw them and he gently shook his wife awake.

“What’re you two doing here,” he growled. Julia was taken aback by his appearance. One of his claws was missing from his right hand, and it patches of his red scales were missing from his body. Leye didn’t look much better, her beard shorn and cuts littered her face.

Julia pushed past her own anguish at seeing the two of them in such a state and focused on the reason she and Magnus were there.

“We needed to see if the two of you were alive. We have some information we can give you, even if we can’t get you out today.”

Anfrith shook his head.

“First, tell me this: is Selsel okay? Did he make it out?”

Julia nodded. “He made it out okay, he’s living with the Herbalist, he said that’s what you two arranged for.” Julia hesitated a little before pressing on. “He also said that you two wanted me to lead. I’ve picked up the reins, I hope that’s okay with you two.”

Leye smiled softly at Julia, and reached out a hand to pat her cheek.

“Of course that’s okay with us, dear,” she said. “That’s exactly what we wanted. You’ve been ready for a while, you just needed a push. And now your people need you, and the fact that you’re here means you’re doing wonderfully.”

Anfrith drew Leye in closer to his chest.

“Don’t you worry about us,” he said. “We can handle ourselves just fine. You might be needed out there, but we’re needed in here. The other prisoners look to us, and I know that you’ll be in to get us out as soon as you can.”

Julia closed her eyes, wishing that she could break everybody out, but knowing that Kalen’s men would just capture everybody again.

Magnus rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to interrupt the guilt he already saw building itself up in Julia’s racing mind.

“Jules,” he murmured softly. “Julia, we gotta go soon. We’ve done what we can, now we gotta make sure we can be around to get them out soon.”

Julia sighed and opened her eyes.

“You’re right, Mags. Thanks.”

She focused on Anfrith and Leye once more.

“We’ll be back soon,” she promised. The older coupled waved them out.

“We’ll be okay. Go, help your people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: I promised in the tags that this will have explicit sexual content, and thats coming (ha)... next week! I have spoken this into existensce, and I will see it bloom! I cannot back out now. 
> 
> Let me know what you think about everything!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The day has come, my friends... I bring you porn, for the first time in my life. So please let me know if you think this is decent or not. 
> 
> For those who don’t want to read them doing the horizontal tango, there is some plot in this chapter, so just read everything above the cut!

Magnus crept low to the ground, as quiet as possible. Overhead, the moon hung full and bright above him, highlighting his target in front of him. On the path that led from Raven’s Roost up to Kalen’s Manor was a wagon, filled with a patrol of Kalen’s men, all lazily laughing and jeering as they returned from patrolling the town.

Behind Magnus was a group of volunteers, all members of the rebellion efforts. This was a simple mission, assigned to them by Julia: take out this group, strike fast and silent, all to confuse Kalen and his men, see if there’s anything worth reclaiming in the wagon.

Julia would have led the strike herself, but Steven was out of town for a carpentry convention of sorts, and she thought it was best for someone to stay behind and keep an eye on the Hammer and Tongs.

So Magnus led the attack alone.

Just as the wagon rounded the curve in the road, effectively shielding it from any prying eyes, Magnus waved his arm, gesturing for the group to charge. With a collective yell, they ran from their position on the side of the road, leaping into the fray with little hesitation.

Things turned chaotic for a few minutes. Magnus hacked at the ropes hitching the horse to the cart, sending it running, terrified, still trailing ropes and a bridle. With a dismayed cry, the driver grabbed a pair of daggers and leapt down onto Magnus, knocking him to the ground.

Magnus grappled with the man for a moment, but he was prone, pinned under the mercenary. He managed to block a few slashes from the daggers with his bracers, but when the merc raised one to stab down, Magnus had to rethink his plan. Twisting his body with all strength he could manage, he succeeded in throwing the mercenary off him. Unfortunately, his hood, which he always wore on missions and raids to conceal his identity, came off, caught on the armor of the mercenary.

Magnus wasn’t even aware until he scrambled to his feet, hefting his axe and trying to put some distance between himself and his attacker. The mercenary brandished his daggers, but his eyes narrowed with disgust as he studied Magnus’s face.

“You!” He spat, baring his teeth in an almost animalistic grimace. “You’re the one behind all this!”

Alarmed, Magnus brought up a hand to feel for his hood, only to find it hanging down over his back.

It only took a second, but that second was all that was needed for the mercenary to leap at him again, and knock him prone once more.

This time, his axe was knocked from his hands and skittered away across the ground, just out of reach.

The mercenary had him thoroughly pinned this time, his knees digging into the soft parts of Magnus’s elbows, prepared for the trick that threw him off last time. He raised his daggers, and Magnus closed his eyes, praying to whatever deity would accept him in his last moments that at least Julia would be safe-

There was a noise like a rock hitting a tree, Magnus felt the weight on top of him slump off to the side. Hesitantly, Magnus cracked open one eye, only to see a small, burly figure standing above him. Magnus shoved the man (Unconscious? Dead? Magnus wasn’t sure if he even cared at the moment) off him and took the hand that the figure offered him.

Pulling himself to his feet, Magnus was shocked to discover that the figure was actually Selsel. Around them, the fight was dying out as enemies were dispatched and those who were already taken care of piled in the road, and someone was already rooting around the back of the wagon, searching for valuables.

“You-“ Magnus spluttered, “You shouldn’t be out here! Your aunt and uncle don’t want you involved!”

The young orc closed his arms with a huff, dropping his mace at his feet.

“And they got _taken_ , so they can’t do anything about it now!”

Magnus rubbed a hand across his eyes.

“Well, then forget them, they won’t get a chance to kill you before Julia does.”

Selsel looked up at Magnus with a look, one that just screamed _‘try it’_.

“I did save your life just there. Repay the favor?”

Magnus resisted every urge in his body not to roll his eyes at the teenager.

“Yeah, alright. But it’s a mutual thing, alright? Nothing happened here tonight.”

They both studied the scene of destruction before them, and Magnus scratched his head and shrugged.

“Okay, nothing too out of the ordinary. Now, go back to where you’re staying, okay? Because if Julia found out, she’d not only kill you, but she’d get me in the process.”

Selsel laughed, a high-pitched sound, betraying just how young he actually was.

* * *

 

The group made it back into town before the next patrol even left the manor. Hopefully the pileup on the road into town would keep them preoccupied. But in the chaos after the fight, Magnus never did find out if the man that almost killed him was dead or merely unconscious.

However, he did find out the hard way that he did have a few cuts along his ribs and arms, places where the daggers glanced off his bracers or found gaps in his armor.

Julia sat alone at the kitchen table, reading by candlelight. At the knock on the door, she hurried over, and after carefully peeking through the curtains, she opened the door and quickly ushered Magnus inside.

After pressing a long kiss to his lips, she grabbed the medical aid kit from under the workbench in the workshop and made her way back to Magnus, where he sat at the table, slowly and steadily piling his armor on the floor.

“How did it go?” Julia asked as she pulled bandages and salves out of the kit.

Magnus shrugged himself out of his shirt, cuts and bruises on full display.

“We did it, and found about a hundred gold in the wagon.”

Julia hummed as she carefully spread ointment on a long gash on Magnus’s upper arm. He hissed, a careful exhalation between his clenched teeth. Julia smirked up at him.

“You know,” she said playfully, a singsong lilt in her voice, “you can handle breaking ribs no problem, but a little cut has you tensing up like no tomorrow.”

Magnus rolled his head back and sighed, muscles relaxing at Julia’s gentle ministrations.

“Hey, that stuff stings! And you don’t need to put it on broken ribs!”

Julia laughed, wrapping bandages around the cut.

“Yeah, you’re right. I asked the Herbalist what she used to make this shit, and it’s about sixty percent alcohol, fourth percent herbs. I can’t remember for the life of me what they were,” she pushed a lock of hair away from her face, glancing over Magnus as she did, “but they work, so I’m not complaining.”

Julia continued her examination of Magnus, but nothing else needed attention... at least, not medical attention. She put the medical kit away, but before she could do anything else, Magnus beckoned her over.

“Did I thank you for fixing me up?” He asked, hands reaching for hers, pulling her towards him.

Julia giggled. “No, I don’t think you did!”

Magnus smiled at her, soft and sweet, making Julia feel like she was melting inside.

“How rude of me,” he murmured, pulling her down for a kiss.

Julia slid onto his lap, deepening the kiss. Somewhere, between sliding lips and gasps and sighs, it turned, darkened, becoming something less innocent and more carnal. Magnus’s lips moved to Julia’s neck, and she sighed, one hand in his hair and the other grasping his shoulder. Magnus pulled her in close, kissing his way up her throat, her jaw, back up to her lips, enchanted by the taste of sweat and sawdust and _Julia_.

Their lips met, and she nipped at his bottom lip, pulling a gasp from him. They pulled away, panting, and Julia took a moment to really look at and appreciate Magnus. He had a nice body, no doubt about that, shaped by hard work and marked with scars that she longed to trace over, with her fingers or tongue, she wasn’t sure yet. Magnus always looked incredible, but seeing him bathed in the warm glow of candlelight sent heat flooding and curling in the pit of Julia’s stomach. She ground her hips down on Magnus’s, and to her delight felt him already wanting.

He huffed, his hands scrambling for purchase on Julia’s back, and she delighted in the aborted thrusts of his hips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Julia kissed him deep and long.

That was the breaking point for Magnus, who hefted Julia up in his arms and stood. Julia squealed, surprised by the sudden movement. Magnus laughed, his whole body bouncing as he did. Julia loved that laugh, how hearty it was and how he threw every bit of himself into it.

“Upstairs?” He asked. Julia nodded enthusiastically, before kissing him again, licking along the seam of his lips.

Magnus pulled her up, his hands under her thighs, and Julia wrapped her legs around his waist.

They made their way to Julia’s room, trading kisses and gasps as they went. Lucky for them, Magnus had left his shirt downstairs, which was one less obstacle for them. Maybe it was the pure lust, or the comedown after the fight, but both Magnus and Julia found their hands shaking and struggled with undoing buttons and ties.

Julia laughed as Magnus struggled with the buttons on her shirt, and she took pity on him, pulling the offending cloth over her head. Magnus watched her for a moment, and his eyes went soft, and he seemed unable to close his mouth.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said, eyes roaming over her body. “God, Jules-“ Julia cut him off, pulling him down for a kiss, her hands working on his belt and pants. Her plan went well enough, except for the part where she forgot to take off his boots. Clumsily, Magnus leaned over, raising one foot up towards his hand. He pitched forwards, nearly falling over, and he took a few awkward hops. Julia burst out laughing at his shocked expression, and took a seat on her bed, patting the spot next to her.

She bit her lip at his awkward shuffle over, pants around his ankles, and snickered at the sound of his belt buckle rattling over the floor after him, trailing him like a sad little dog.

The second that Magnus managed to get his boots and pants off, Julia reached down into his undergarments, stroking him. Magnus gasped, before pulling back.

“Wait, wait, Jules-“

Instantly, she retreated, pulling her arm back so fast her elbow popped.

Magnus cupped her cheek in his hand, his thumb gently rubbing soft circles near her hairline.

“Are you good with this? With-“ he gestured around the room, “everything? Is there anything you don’t want?”

Julia pulled him in for a soft, almost chaste kiss. God, she loved him so much it was almost breaking her heart.

“I’m good if you are, big guy. Say the word, and it’s all over.”

Magnus smiled against her lips. “Okay,” he murmured, and then he was pulling his undergarments off and tossing them onto the pile of his clothes on the floor. Julia wasted no time in pulling her remaining clothes off, and Magnus kissed his way up her neck, his hands settling on her hips. Julia wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back, settling on the bed with a ‘whump’. Magnus leaned over her.

He leaned in close to her, and whispered in her ear, “Can I taste you?”

Julia shuddered in anticipation, breathing out a “yes” in reply.

Magnus slowly worked his way down, kissing his way back down her neck, over her shoulders, down her clavicle, where he sucked a bruise onto her collarbone. She sighed as he traced his lips over her breasts, and she writhed when he laved her tongue over her nipples, drawing them into dusky peaks. Magnus palmed her breasts as he moved lower, gently rolling them in his hands as he drew nonsense patterns into her stomach with his tongue. He was determined to worship her as best as he could, show her how he felt without using words. Julia sighed, bucking her hips up where she needed. He eyed her with a grin, kissing her inner thighs, everywhere but where she wanted him to be. His sideburns scratched at where he had previously kissed, making Julia groan at the delicious mix of pleasure and pain.

Finally, Magnus reached her clit, flicking his tongue over it, tracing tiny circles. Julia moaned, her hands coming up to bury themselves in his hair, tugging ever-so-often as he began to lick at her in earnest. His tongue parted her folds, and he licked at her center. He brought a finger up, tracing figure-eights over her clit, and Julia’s legs clamped tight as the pleasure coursed through her. Magnus smiled against her as her legs squeezed at the sides of his head, and it only took minimal shifting until they were locked behind his neck, holding him in place.

Magnus teased at Julia’s entrance with a thick finger, letting it get slick in her wetness. He looked up at her, and her eyes widened as he brought the finger to his lips, eagerly cleaning it. She whimpered, her head rolling backwards against the pillows, and that was when Magnus slowly slid the finger inside her.

Julia moaned, loud and eager, and Magnus had to stop for a moment to control himself. He began to move the finger, feeling her walls, Julia’s moans becoming louder.

“Another,” she cried, her hips bucking. “Please, _Mags_ -“ Who was he to deny Julia anything? He slid another finger inside her, and laved his tongue over her clit. Julia tugged at his hair, and he looked up, panting at the pure arousal that made him grind his hips into the mattress.

“Crook- crook them and move, please, oh, oh god-“

Magnus did as he was told, and the resulting wail almost made him come right there. He had to grip the base of his cock with his free hand and close his eyes for a moment before returning to the task at hand. He had already decided that he was going to make Julia come once before he did, and based on the way that her moans were getting louder and hips were rocking against him, she was close.

Magnus closed his lips around Julia’s clit and sucked, and then with a cry, he felt her come, tensing up around his fingers. He fucked her through it, moaning as her wetness soaked his fingers.

Once the aftershocks worked their way through Julia, she unhooked her legs from Magnus’s neck and pulled him up to her, kissing him hungrily. She could taste herself on his lips, and that was hot as hell. She scrambled in her bedside drawer with one hand until she found her condoms, which she all but threw at Magnus.

He fumbled with the little package for a moment, but she stopped him, pushing him down on the bed with a hand on his chest.

“Let me help,” she purred, crawling up the length of his body.

She pulled the condom out and gently rolled it down his length, and stroked him a few times once it was on. Magnus groaned, but after a few strokes he stopped her.

“I’m not- this won’t last if you keep doing that, Jules.”

She smirked, and flipped them, straddling Magnus on the bed. She lined the head of his cock up with her entrance, and began to sink down. Magnus bit his lip as she enveloped him, and clenched his fists and willed himself not to move. Julia panted as she worked her way down his cock, but before too long she was seated, her hips flush with his. Her eyes closed, and her hips worked in little circles. To feel him inside her was so intimate, so perfect. Magnus groaned as she palmed her breasts, a sly grin on her lips. She was just toying with him, and it turned Magnus on like no tomorrow.

She kept working herself up, until she whispered, “you can move now.”

Magnus rocked his hips up in time with her, meeting her movements. Her hands splayed out over his chest as she balanced herself, and one hand slipped on his sweat-slick skin. Julia fell forwards, and moaned. The new angle was perfect, and his cock brushed against her sweet spot with every thrust.

“Right there,” she breathed, feeling the heat build in her stomach again. “Magnus, right there! Don’t stop!”

Magnus thrust harder, spurred on by Julia’s words. He lifted himself up on his elbows and captured her lips in a kiss. Their eyes locked, and Magnus felt like Julia was looking into his soul.

“Oh gods, _Jules_ , I’m not gonna last, I’m-“ She cut him off by grinding down on him.

“Let go, Magnus. Come for me, come on-“

Neither of them lasted. Magnus shouted her name as he came, thrusting up hard into her. She came as well, clenching down on his cock with a high-pitched cry.

Julia pulled herself off Magnus and flopped next to him on the bed. Lazily, Magnus pulled the condom off and threw it towards the wastebasket by Julia’s workdesk.

“Ooh, made it, good one,” Julia said from where she panted next to Magnus. Fondness and affection swept through him, nearly overwhelming, and he kissed her, and she kissed back, and Magnus felt as if the moment would never end.

Julia broke away, yawning, and curled against him, pulling a blanket over them. Magnus played with her hair and let the love he felt lull him to a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support! I really appreciate all my readers and those who comment every chapter, you know who you are and I love you!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: When I first started writing this fic, this was the first chapter I wrote! This whole thing stared off as a one shot! And now we’re almost halfway done!

Things were surprisingly quiet for about a month. No attacks on citizens, no visits at the Hammer and Tongs from mercenaries, or, gods forbid, Kalen himself. So what happened next was all the more surprising.

The raid came in the middle of the night.

Nobody knew it was coming; their spies had been quiet for days.

All Julia remembered was the covers flying off the bed in Magnus’s apartment, and Magnus being wrenched from her arms. All she could see by the dim moonlight were black-masked figures shoving Magnus's head into a burlap sack, his knees kicked out from under him.

The blow to the back of her head came out of nowhere.

Two days later, Kalen came back to town, his wagons rattling along the trail to the town square. Not wanting to attract suspicion, Julia followed the crowd to the center of Raven's Roost. The lump on the back of her head ached, but she covered up with a bandanna that used to belong to Magnus.

In the center of the town square, a podium had been erected in the past for leaders to address the community from. Julia remembered her father telling about how her great-grandfather helped build Raven's Roost out of the cliffs.

Kalen had forced the craftsmen of Raven's Roost to build a gallows onto the podium.

It was from those gallows that Kalen addressed the gathered crowd.

"My friends," he began, his voice thick with charm, "today is a wonderful day! You see, my men captured a leader of the insurgents who are threatening our peaceful city!" With that, one of Kalen's head cronies hauled a struggling figure with a hood obscuring their face up the stairs of the podium and pushed the figure onto their knees.

Of course, Julia recognized Magnus. He was still in his nightclothes, and there was no way she could forget the scars marring his arms, his barrel chest, the way he heaved for breath.

When the hood was removed, Magnus gasped at the bright light of the afternoon.

Julia gasped at his state.

A long cut started at his left eyebrow and ended just at his cheekbone.

His right eye was blackened and swollen shut. His entire body was bruised and bleeding from too many wounds to count.

Julia stiffened and instinctively leaned forward, yearning to go to his side, to free him, to fight. Steven gripped her shoulder, grounding her as much as restraining her. Julia's hands curled into tight fists at her side, her fingers itching for her axes.

On the podium, Kalen gripped Magnus's chin in his forefinger and thumb, pulling it up. He locked his eyes with Magnus's, but addressed the crowd.

"To the members of this little rebellion, I do hope you've had your fun, but I cannot allow such callous behavior in our fair town. Your dear, dear leader here will be giving you an example of what you can expect to happen if this behavior does not cease."

Smirking, he leaned down to whisper something in Magnus's ear. Julia watched anxiously as Magnus's face twisted in fury.

Kalen released Magnus and straightened, regarding the warrior at his feet out of the corner of his eye. Just as he took a breath to start speaking again, Magnus spat at his feet, blood and saliva spattering the polished boots of the governor.

Kalen seemed to cooly regard this, uttering a calm, "I see."

That was all the warning he gave before whipping around and kicking Magnus under his chin. Julia could hear his jaws clack together all the way out in the crowd.

Kalen gestured to Magnus, shouting at his men. "Enough with the formalities, haul him up! It's time to be done with this!"

Two men grabbed Magnus's arms and heaved him up, despite Magnus's best efforts to stop them. But with his arms bound, the muscled man couldn't do much. Magnus snarled as the men drug him closer to the nooses swaying menacingly in the breeze.

Julia's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what to do, the rebellion efforts didn't have a plan for such an emergency.

In her panic, she started forwards, about to run to the podium. The only thing stopping her from giving herself away was Steven. Her father wrapped both his arms around her chest, securing her in place. Julia struggled to get away, biting her tongue to keep from shouting. Panic and mounting dread rose in her chest, her heart resting in the back of her throat.

"No, Jules," he whispered in her ear, holding her close. "You can't. I am so, so sorry, dearest." Steven meant it. Magnus was more than an apprentice to him, he was more like a son. The fact that Julia's heart belonged to him made this all the more difficult. He wanted to run and free the man himself, but he knew that he risked revealing himself and Julia's involvement to Kalen. Gods knows he was fortunate that Kalen's men didn't recognize Julia the night Magnus was taken.

On the stage, Magnus was being restrained by two men while a third attempted to fit the noose around his neck.

Steven could hear Magnus's hoarse shouts as he bucked and strained, avoiding the noose to the best of his ability. Julia was whimpering, still stiff in her father's arms, her hands jerking weakly as if attempting to throw her axes.

The crowd watched as a the third man kicked Magnus between his legs, and when he curled inwards in shock, the hangman quickly caught his head in the noose.

Julia's whimpers grew into a wail that Steven quickly muffled with the palm of his hands. Tears streamed down her face, but she resolutely fought her father's grasp. The crowd ignored her as voices began to raise as Magnus was shoved towards the edge of the podium. All it would take was a final push, leaving the fighter dangling off the podium. Kalen went back to the center of the stage, and spread his arms, lifting them to the crowd and the sky above.

Grinning, Kalen turned to the men waiting for his word to finish Magnus.

"And with this, this pestilence has been extinguished."

He nodded to the men holding Magnus.

"Do it."

Several things happened at once.

An explosion wracked the top of the cliff, sending boulders cascading down into the canyon below. One bounced off course and rolled into and through one of Kalen's wagons, continuing on it's way to roll off the other side of the town into the valley below.

Shaken, the crowd surged forwards, towards the center of the town square. Magnus shoved himself backwards, falling on his knees on the edge of the podium. The men who had been holding him had loosened their grips on him during the explosion, and Magnus wrenched his arm free of his bindings, which he had steadily been working on loosening. With his arms freed, he loosened the noose around his neck, tossing it away and turning to punch one of his captors.

A second explosion on top of the cliff sent the crowd running off towards their homes, seeking shelter from the onslaught. Magnus prepared to fight another captor, but a shout of his name distracted him. A halfling woman in a dark cloak grabbed his pant leg and tugged him forwards, beckoning frantically for her to follow him.

"This way, this way," she shouted over the din. "You come with me, have a place that is safe. He not find you."

Magnus ran as quick as he could, following the halfling through the fleeing crowd. He took one last chance to scan for Kalen, only to see his caravan of wagons rumbling out of town.

The halfling scoffed and thumped on his thigh. "Focused! Follow me!"

Magnus stumbled after the woman, following her to the outskirts of town and off into the farmlands outside of the town's borders.

They came to a small farmhouse. The woman took him to a cellar on the edge of the yard. It looked like an ordinary root cellar, dank and damp and dark.

"Is this is?" Magnus asked, stooping to avoid the low roof.

"Pah, is not it," the woman sniffed. She shoved aside a basket of tubers on a shelf in the corner, and revealed a switch set into the shelf. Pulling the switch revealed a hidden room. The woman ushered him inside. It was a small room, about the size of his old bedroom in the apartment behind the Hammer and Tongs Steven had allowed him to rent out when he first came to Raven's Roost.

It had a basin of water in one corner, and a mattress in the other. A lantern with a glowing crystal sat on the mattress, illuminating a neatly folded pile of blankets.

The halfling woman turned to Magnus. She nodded firmly in a decisive way.

"You stay here. You be safe. He not find you here."

Magnus was grateful, he really was, but he needed to find Julia! He needed to see her, to tell her that he was alright, he was okay, he was just hiding for a bit. He needed to see if she was alright, he needed to see if Steven was alright, he needed to alert the rebellion that he escaped.

"Please, ma'am," he started, kneeling to be on the small woman's level. "I need to speak to some people, I need to see Julia Waxman, please, ma'am, I need to see her, I need to talk to her, please-!"

The woman cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"You not worry. I bring Julia Waxman."

At those words, tension drained out of Magnus's body. His head dropped to his chest, and a faint smile appeared upon his face.

"Thank you so much ma'am, thank you so very much-"

His thanks were cut off by her rapping on top of his head with her finger.

"You stay. You stay, you rest. Need rest."

She pointed at the mattress, her other hand on her hip.

Magnus got the message. With a faint chuckle, he rose and made his way to the mattress. Pulling the pile of blankets apart, he laid himself down obediently under the watchful eye of the halfling woman.

After she was certain Magnus would be resting, she turned to leave.

"I bring message to Julia Waxman. You stay. You rest."

With that, she left, swinging the door shut behind her.

Magnus laid his head down upon the mattress, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I write Kalen, I imagine a blond version of Rafe Adler from “Uncharted 4” with the voice and speaking pattern of Arden from “Final Fantasy 15”.
> 
> Thank you so much for the wonderful comments! Your support means so much to me!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Folks, we are at the halfway point now! Thank you so much for all the support you’ve given me, I literally cannot put it into words how much your kudos and bookmarks and comments mean to me. I may not be responding directly to them, but know: I see you, and I love you. 
> 
> That brings me to some news! I will be taking the next week off to write more of the story so I can have something to post after the break. Just one week, and then I’ll be back on the normal posting time!

Despite the halfling woman’s claims that she would bring Julia to her farm, it actually took her a few days to make good on her promise.

It was the wait that really killed Magnus. His mysterious host had plans to keep him busy while he waited. The halfling woman woke him up bright and early the first morning after his arrival at the farm. She opened the door, letting the damp air of the cellar wake him. Magnus opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to his surroundings. Apparently, he didn’t awake soon enough for the woman’s satisfaction, and she huffed as she marched over to him, dropping a bundle of clothes on his head.

“Up,” she demanded. “Dress quick, get up! Much to do, big day!”

With that, she spun around and left the small room. Magnus, still sore from his time in captivity, dressed as quickly as he could, and made his way out into the main room of the cellar. There, the woman sat on a barrel, her feet swinging off the ground.

Upon seeing Magnus upright, she made a pleased humming sound, and grabbed his hand and tugged, pulling him up the stairs, out of the cellar. She led him inside the farmhouse and into the kitchen.

It was an unremarkable kitchen, with all the necessities, except for the small oak table and matching chairs in the corner. Magnus recognized the furniture, it was one of his first projects that he did as Steven’s apprentice.

The woman guided him to the table, and he took a seat.

“Wait,” the woman ordered, and she hurried off somewhere deeper in the house.

As he waited, Magnus ran his hands over the tabletop. He remembered all of the process that went into making it. Choosing the wood, cutting the boards, sanding everything down, all under Steven’s careful eye. Magnus felt around the underside of the table, until he felt the notch. That notch was the only flaw in the entire table, and surprisingly, it wasn’t Magnus’ fault; it was Julia’s.

_He had been working on cutting the board thinner, it was too thick and lopsided on the half of the second board that made up the other half of the table. Earlier, he had been sanding when Steven pointed out his mistake, so after Magnus was shown how to fix it, Steven left to grab some more supplies for his own project. Julia had come in the house to start making dinner, under the impression that Magnus was still sanding. He was working so hard on evening out the board that he didn’t notice her creeping in the shop. He didn’t even notice when she was right up behind him, almost holding her breath._

_“Magnus!”, she shouted, playfully trying to catch his attention._

_Magnus yelped in surprise, and in his shock, the blade slipped, digging deep into the wood._

_Julia’s hands clapped to her mouth in surprise, apologies already spilling past her lips._

_“Oh no, Mags, I am so sorry-“_

_He cut her off with a shake of his head. Tugging the blade out, he examined the wood._

_It wasn’t too badly damaged, except for the small gouge in the wood._

_“It’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s not even noticeable if you don’t know what to look for.”_

_Julia didn’t look very reassured._

_“I’ll take the blame if my dad gives you shit for it,” she offered._

_Magnus grinned. “I’ll take you up on that. Besides,” he said with a shrug, “it was a pretty good joke.”_

Magnus dug his fingers into the notch. He missed Julia so much, he missed Steven, he missed the Hammer and Tongs and he missed his shitty little apartment and he missed-

He longed for someone, anyone that he recognized to be safe to come and reassure him that he could come back, that Kalen was gone, that he wouldn’t be killed on sight in the town.

He resolutely fought back the tears in his eyes, wiping his sleeve across his face. He instantly regretted it as the fabric scratched across the long cut down his face, over his left eye. He knew he was lucky he didn’t lose the eye.

He didn’t have much time to ruminate and wallow in his self pity, because the woman came back into the kitchen, holding a basket filled with medical products.

She sat in the chair next to him, pulling out a disinfecting paste. She applied a liberal amount to his eye. It stung horribly, and on instinct Magnus reached up to wipe it off. The woman smacked his hand. “Not touching!”

The woman let the paste sit, reaching into her basket for a small cube. She held it up to Magnus’s blackened eye. “You hold,” she instructed. Magnus did as he was told and held the cube up. He could feel the magic chilling his fingertips, and realized that the cube must be charmed to stay cold. They sat in silence as the woman worked, until Magnus broke the silence.

“Not that I don’t appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but who are you? I’ve never seen you around town before.”

The woman glanced up at him, a smirk curling the corners of her lips.

“You not know me? Been there whole time. Know you.”

Magnus looked puzzled. “But I still don’t know who you are, or how you managed to get me away.”

The woman pulled away from Magnus, unimpressed. Then, in a perfect imitation of Magnus’s voice, she said, “I’m Seli Whit!”

Magnus’s eyes widened in comprehension. “You’re from the rebellion! You’re the one who always sits in the corner in the cloak!”

Pleased, Seli let the spell dissipate, her voice returning to normal. “Yes, that me.”

Magnus leaned forward in interest. “Why do you always try to stay hidden like that?”

Seli waved her wrist airily. “Safe,” she muttered. She rose from the table, gathering her medical items. When she returned from replacing them, she beckoned Magnus over to the kitchen sink. Inside, submerged in a pot of water, sat unshelled peas. She pointed to them. “Shell. You help lunch, I work.” With that, she turned to head for the door, picking up a watering can sitting by the door as she did.

“Wait!” Magnus called, reaching for her shoulder. “You said you’d bring Julia. When will you? This afternoon? Tonight?”

Seli waggled her head from side to side. “Not safe,” she said. “She know this. Bring Julia Waxman when safe.”

Magnus’s brow furrowed.

Seli put an end to the conversation by opening the door. She called over her shoulder, “Shell! Useful! Rest!”, before closing the door behind her, leaving Magnus alone in the house.

Magnus rolled his sleeves up, shelling the peas, grumbling to himself as he did.

The next two days passed in the same rhythm, Seli waking Magnus up and checking over his healing injuries before giving him a housework task to do before he was allowed to rest in the little room in the cellar.

* * *

 

It had been three days after Magnus disappeared from the disastrous town meeting when Julia answered a knock at the door of the Hammer and Tongs. Julia sat alone in her room, poring over maps and documents stolen from Kalen’s manor by the rebellion’s spies. Her father was asleep in his room after spending the night on patrol, looking for his missing apprentice. When the sound of knocking reached Julia’s ears, she quickly hid the papers under her floorboard and she bounded down the stairs, hoping it wasn’t a customer. Instead, she was greeted by a halfling woman who she had never seen before.

“Hello, may I-“ Julia was cut off as the halfling woman pushed past her into the shop.

“Excuse me!”, she exclaimed, her heart racing. What if this was one of Kalen’s spies? What if Kalen found out it was her in bed with Magnus that night, and he sent this woman to kill her?

Julia edged towards the kitchen. Maybe she could grab a knife-

“Magnus send me.”

His name stopped Julia cold.

Magnus sent her? It was too good to be true. But Julia had to find out something, anything. All the leads they had gotten in the past four days had gone nowhere at all, and Selsel had started to try and convince Julia that Magnus was dead, crushed by one of the massive boulders falling from the cliffs or run over the edge in the panic or somehow recaptured by Kalen.

“You said Magnus sent you,” she said, trying to act like her heart wasn’t halfway beating out of her chest.

“Magnus send me. He hidden, he safe. Send me, find you. Annoying,” she added, curling her lip.

Julia decided to play along with this. This was her only lead.

“Okay. Where is he?”

The halfling woman shook her head. “I not tell. I show. You come, you find Magnus.”

Julia exhaled. Gnawing on her lip, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Alright, I’ll come with you. Just let me get some things together?”

The woman shrugged, pulling out a chair from the table and hopping into it, her feet swinging above the ground.

Julia dashed upstairs, leaving her father a quick note, pulling on her cloak, grabbing her axes and holstering them at her sides. After a brief moment, she tied Magnus’s bandanna around her neck. If she was going to die horribly in a trap, she wanted to remember him, one last time.

She returned to the kitchen and the woman.

“Okay,” she said, “let’s go.” She locked the doors and turned the sign to ‘closed’, and followed the woman.

The woman led her on a twisting path out of the Corridor, out of Raven’s Roost, through the woods, out of the town’s borders, into the farmlands.

The woman led Julia to a small farm, and stopped her at the edge of the field.

“Wait,” she ordered, and walked towards the yard of the farmhouse. She opened a door to a cellar, and disappeared down into it. Julia rested her hands on the handles of her axes, and prepared for a fight.

* * *

 

Magnus stared at the ceiling of his tiny room, counting the cracks. If he had to stare at the insides of this room any longer he was going to go insane-

The noise of the cellar door opening caught his attention, and by the time the door to his room was opened he was already on his feet. Seli stood outside, and she beckoned him forward. “Come,” she called. Magnus obediently followed, expecting another chore.

What he didn’t expect was for Seli to point to a figure on the end of the field. She didn’t have to say anything. Magnus already knew who it was.

Her hair shone in the late afternoon light, the curls bouncing in the fair breeze. Even if he couldn’t make out the details over the distance separating them, he knew her face, knew all the minute features, all etched in his mind. The freckles across the bridge of her nose, the tiny scar above her lip that she got from tripping and falling as a little girl, the glint in her eyes. She was here, she was real, there was no way she could be an illusion- Magnus rushed forwards, running across the field, calling her name as he ran.

Julia felt frozen. Even though this woman said she had Magnus, said that he was fine, she still couldn’t believe it. But then he was running to her, her name on his lips, and Julia felt like she was on fire instead, boosted by an internal fuel, and she found herself running as well, running as fast as she could, running to meet him.

They all but crashed into each other in the middle of the field.   
They collided, fiercely embracing each other, grounding each other, almost as if the momentum that carried them to the other was now forcing them together in one being stuck in one place, in one moment in time.

Julia buried her face in Magnus’s neck, barely letting up to breathe.

His hands scrabbled over her back, with one eventually settling between her shoulders and the other in her hair. Her hands pressed into his back, holding him as tight as she possibly could.

She felt something wet on her face, and it took her too long to realize that she was crying.

Magnus was saying something, muffled by his face pressed to the top of her head.

“Julia, Julia, _Julia_ ,” he chanted. He knew that he missed her, but when she was apart from him it felt like his soul had been torn in half. Now it felt like he was repaired, he was whole again.

Gently, Magnus placed both hands on her checks and lifted her head. She looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face. He brushed one away with his thumb.

He smiled gently, fighting back tears of his own.

“Hi, Jules.”

She giggled wetly.

“Hey, Mags.”

A flash of red caught his attention, and he looked down.

“Is that my bandanna?”

She flushed, her brows furrowing playfully. “It’s mine now, you can borrow it when I say you can.”

He laughed. They finally released each other, but he hooked an arm over her shoulders and she wrapped one around his waist.

“Come on,” he said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

With that, they made their way to the farmhouse. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Thank you so much for being patient with me on my break. I hope that this is a good introduction to the second half of the fic! 
> 
> I would, for the next few chapters, suggest that you heed the tags. Take care of yourself, okay.

It had been a long few weeks for everyone. After a long conversation, Seli Whit’s had agreed to allow Magnus to stay at her farm for a week or two, letting him recover from his beating at the hands of Kalen and his men while Julia and Steven worked to gather up the members of the Rebellion and plan the next move.

Physically, Magnus was recovering just fine. His bruises faded from his skin and small cuts closed up. The large cut over his eye scabbed over after a few days, but Seli told him it would scar for sure. She told him he was lucky not to have lost the eye altogether, but Magnus still spent a few minutes each day, poking and prodding at his reflection. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the scar. On one hand, it looked badass and spoke of how strong he was, but on the other, when Magnus recalled how exactly the scar came to be... it wasn’t something he wanted a reminder of every time he passed his reflection.

His recovery went well, and Seli made sure he stayed fit and active during his stay, putting him to work on her farm every day, his duties ranging from shelling vegetable for dinner that night to tilling the earth in her fields to fixing a loose table leg. Magnus was glad to help her out, it was the least he felt he could do to repay her for saving him and housing him while returning to Raven’s Roost was dangerous.

Mentally, Magnus was not recovering well.

At night, he saw the face of Kalen, leaning over him, brandishing the blade that nearly took his eye, the one that scarred him for life, the one who beat him and tortured him for two days, the one who tormented other prisoners in an effort to make him talk, the one who nearly killed him. Sometimes, Magnus would see Kalen’s face in his mind’s eye in the daytime, sometimes for a half a second, sometimes the memory would replay, unbidden.

Magnus had nightmares. Awful nightmares that often made him wake screaming fit to bring the house down.

Julia’s presence helped, sometimes. She would visit for a day or a night whenever she was certain that she could slip away without Kalen’s men noticing her.

It was one such night that that Magnus had his worst nightmare yet.

_Magnus tugged at the heavy manacles chaining him to the wall of the cell. It was in vain, because for all that he pulled, he still wouldn’t be able to escape the man advancing on him._

_“You’ve caused us quite a bit of trouble, you know,” the man said, half his face ensconced in shadows. A prim-and-proper accent that spoke of years of high-class education stretched certain vowels, almost making his voice a low purr in Magnus’s ears._

_“And you haven’t made it very easy for us to catch you and your... well, let’s call them friends, I suppose. But we have you now, and if you value your life, then you’ll tell me what I need to know.”_

_Magnus shook his head, eying the Governor defiantly._

_“Won’t tell you shit,” he growled. Kalen regarded him for a moment before punching him in the eye with a gloved fist. Magnus gasped at the impact, his head jerking to the side. Before he could fully recover from the shock of the blow, another fist caught him on the jaw, knocking him to the side. Magnus lurched, dangling heavily on the chains that held his wrists._

_Kalen clicked his tongue as Magnus worked his jaw and blinked the stars out of his vision. A scraping sound caught Magnus’s attention, and when he looked back at Kalen, he had drawn a long dagger from a sheath at his side._

_“Now,” he said, almost conversationally, pacing a few steps back and forth in front of Magnus, “I really didn’t want it to get to this point. But,” at this, he gestured with the dagger at Magnus, “You and your friends have been incredibly uncooperative, so we really have no choice at this point.”_

_With that, as quick as a snake, he slashed out at Magnus’s legs with the dagger, leaving a long cut that split the fabric of his pants and the skin underneath. Magnus bit back a noise, not wanting to give Kalen the satisfaction._

_Kalen withdrew and went back to his pacing, leaving Magnus shifting where he stood._

_“You’re dedicated,” he said, smiling, still gesticulating with the dagger. “Dedication is good! It means that you’re a man who can be dependable, a man who can be loyal, a man who cares for his people.”_

_The dagger glinted in the torchlight of the cell, and next thing Magnus knew, a new cut was streaking across his chest._

_Once more, Kalen retreated, gazing almost fondly at the red tinge on the edge of his dagger._

_“You’re an admirable man, Magnus. A man with a moral code. Unfortunately,” Kalen hefted the dagger in his hand and rushed at Magnus, grabbing his hair and pinning him back against the wall of the cell by his hair._

_“That’s not what I am,” Kalen hissed. A lock of his carefully maintained blond hair had fallen over his face, and his teeth were bared, gleaming like fangs in the torchlight. He looked absolutely unhinged, a wild man. When he spoke again, his voice was barely more that a whisper._

_“I want you to tell me what I’m asking for, Magnus. I’m running out of patience, you see, and I am a very patient man.”_

_He gripped Magnus’s hair tighter, and raised the dagger up, the pointed tip nearly level with Magnus’s eye._

_“I need you to tell me, Magnus: Who else is in your little rebellion?”_

_Magnus didn’t say anything, his eyes sliding away from the man in front of him. With a fluid movement, Kalen reversed the dagger and whipped Magnus in the head with a pommel._

_Magnus gasped, and when his eyes focused again, the dagger was back, the tip pressing into the skin just above his left eyebrow. The tip carefully cut into skin, and Magnus felt more than saw a drop of blood run down his cheek._

_“Last chance,” Kalen warned. “Names. Now.”_

_Magnus sneered. “Fuck you!”_

_Kalen’s face twisted with rage, and that was the last thing Magnus saw. The dagger dug in harder, and then_ ripped _down over his eye._

_Magnus wailed, and Kalen released him, letting him fall to his knees, his wrists still bound in chains._

_Magnus reached for his face as best as he could but was stopped by the manacles, fighting the blinding pain. He couldn’t actually reach his face, but as near as he could tell, his eye was still there, but his only evidence was that he couldn’t see it lying on the ground in front of him, and his vision was rapidly blurring._

_Blood ran down his face, dripping onto the floor, and as darkness began to obscure the edges of Magnus’s vision, he was the vague shape of Kalen standing over him._

_“Pathetic,” he sneered, and raised his boot, lashing out at Magnus in a vicious kick._

Magnus lurched upright, gasping and shouting, his arms thrashing as he blearily fought off his attacker. Beside him, Julia was violently pulled out of sleep. She reached out to Magnus and gently caught hold of his wrist.

“Magnus,” she called, hoping to get his attention and pull him back to full awareness. “Magnus, it’s alright, you’re safe.”

Magnus seemed to slowly come back to himself at her voice, and he turned to her, eyes wide and flickering around the room wildly, searching for nonexistent threats.

Eventually he calmed down, his breathing slowing from pants to shaking inhalations. Julia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gently pushed him back down, pulling a blanket up over him as he began to shiver.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, fighting back her worries, trying to just focus on her lover in front of her.

“You’ll be okay.”

Magnus pulled her close, and she carded her fingers through his hair, humming softly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, twirling a lock of hair around one finger.

Magnus just made a tired sound into her neck that generally translated to a universal “no”.

Julia pushed herself further into his arms, and hummed an old childhood lullaby, hoping to calm Magnus.

Neither of them got much sleep that night, hiding in the secret room of Seli Whit’s root cellar, unsure of the future ahead of them. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> I bring this update with some sad news. Finals week is coming up for me, and studying and writing papers is taking up most of my time. That is why I have decided to take another break, for a bit longer this time, but just until the semester is over! This fic will be on hiatus until May 7th. 
> 
> I thank you for your patience, and I hope that I can regain your attention upon my return!

In the pre-dawn light, weeks after nearly being hung in front of the entire town by Kalen, Magnus finally returned home.

In his head, he had it built up as a grand celebration, a hero’s welcome, with the entirety of the Rebellion squashed into the kitchen and lobby and spilling into the workshop.

In reality, it was a little bit better. Magnus knocked on the back door of the building, having snuck his way off the street and away from prying eyes around to the door that lead to the forge. From the inside, he could hear a faint scuffle, and then the door swung open.

Julia stood on the other side of it, her hair falling wildly out of the stolen bandanna, her smile wide and inviting, and for a moment, Magnus was taken aback by her effortless beauty, still struck as dumb as the day he met her.

Julia didn’t waste any time, grabbing him by his shirt collar and pulling him inside, kissing him so fiercely that he could barely breathe.

They pulled apart after a moment, and Julia rested her forehead against his, almost overwhelmed with joy. He survived, he made it, and he was here again, back home where he belonged.

Behind them, someone cleared his throat. Magnus started, yanking himself away from Julia, only to be greeted with the familiar and genial smile of Steven. Steven pulled Magnus into a tight hug, gently thumping him on the back.

“Real glad you’re back, son. It was getting a little quiet around here, and Julia missed you somethin’ awful.”

Magnus smiled, and they two men parted, Steven stepping forward to wrap his daughter in a quick hug.

Before the conversation could continue, there was a sound that emanated from the kitchen, a fast _click-click-click-click_ , like claws on wood.

Magnus watched as a dog trotted out of the kitchen, drawn by the noises and conversation. When the dog spotted Magnus, it let out a “Boof!” and made it’s way over to him. Magnus laughed, sinking to his knees to pet the dog. It was brown and black, with perky ears and a tail that wagged so hard it was a blur.

“Who’s this guy?” He asked, rubbing the dog’s ears. Julia laughed as Magnus cooed over the dog.

“He followed Dad and I home from the lumberyard,” she explained. “I think Dad was getting a little lonely, so he said we could keep him. His name’s Hunter.”

Magnus got to his feet, and tried not to laugh as Hunter whined piteously as the petting stopped.

Steven yawned and stretched, popping his back.

“Why don’t we carry this on in the kitchen over some food? Better than standin’ around out here.”

Over a quick meal, Julia and Steven caught Magnus up on everything that occurred while he was gone.

“And we aren’t sure as to exactly what caused that explosion, Mags, we think that Domas might actually have something to do with it, but as for now it’s looking to be an accident.”

Julia sat back after speaking and watched Magnus as he took everything in.

“So it was just... sheer dumb luck? What could Domas even have that could make an explosion that big?”

Julia bit back a laugh.

“There’s a rumor going around that he was using the clearing on top of the cliff to practice infusing some of his home brew with magical components, and then he threw out his cigar, and boom!” She mimed an explosion with her hands.

Magnus threw his head back and laughed.

“So that cranky old man somehow managed to make the biggest explosive that this town has ever seen, and-“ A knock on the door cut him off.

Quickly, Julia reached over and peered out the kitchen window. When she turned back to face Magnus, her eyes were wide.

“You need to hide,” she hissed. “He’s here. Kalen is here.”

Magnus felt his blood turn ice cold, and another knock sounded from the front door. His heart began to pound, and he looked wildly around the kitchen.

“Here,” Julia whispered, and crouching low, she led him to the counter in the main lobby.

The counter was the first thing you saw when you walked into The Hammer and Tongs, directly across from the door, and designed to attach to the wall and curve around, providing only one entrance, and it was spacious underneath, with big shelves holding order forms and a binders of stain samples and catalogs that customers could look through to get the perfect handcrafted furniture. All of that was covered by a dark curtain that hung down from the top of the counter.

Magnus wasted no time in stuffing himself under the curtain, and once he was hidden, he heard rather than saw Julia make her way towards the door, and heard Steven’s shuffling footsteps head into the workshop.

A third knock seemed to rattle the entire building, or maybe that was just Magnus, because his entire body shook without his permission.

Hunter, finally deciding that three knocks was plenty, roused himself from his bed by the counter and barked at the door. Julia moved to answer it.

“The sign says ‘closed’, we aren’t open for another hour,” she said, her hands on her hips. It wasn’t as if the governor could arrest her for being rude.

Kalen, flanked by two bodyguards, brushed past her and stepped inside.

“My apologies, Miss Waxman, I’m certain this won’t take very long.”

At the sound of Kalen’s voice, Magnus shuddered, biting down on his knuckles to keep from making any sound. His mind was beginning to swirl, memories filtering in and projecting themselves over the darkness of his vision.

Julia glared at Kalen as he glanced around the room.

“And what will ‘this’ be?”

Kalen turned his attention back to her. “As you know, a few weeks ago, the traitor Magnus Burnsides was nearly executed after his fair trial. However, the bastard managed to slip away.”

Julia nodded shortly. “I was there. I know what happened.”

Kalen smiled, but it was more like a grimace. “Well, Miss Waxman, it was common knowledge that Burnsides was working here, at this...” he broke off, glancing around the room, turning on his heel. “Ah, fine establishment.” His eyes bored into hers, and maybe Julia imagined it, but he seemed like he took a step closer, looming over her.

Julia loomed right back, staring straight into his eyes. “And he hasn’t been back. We haven’t seen hide or hair of him since that day. He probably ran off the damn cliff in the confusion.”

Kalen straightened, rolling his shoulders. He smiled widely, too cheerful and forced.

“Then I’m sure it won’t be a problem if my men take a look around!” With that, he snapped his fingers, and the two men dispersed, one heading out the back door towards the forge, the other traipsing up the stairs. Kalen himself slipped into the workshop. Steven was in there, looking over order forms and making notes to himself on a notepad.

“Ah, good morning to you, Mister Waxman!”

Steven looked up from his work, frowning.

“Governor Kalen! Julia didn’t tell me we had such an esteemed guest dropping by. What can the Hammer and Tongs do for you?”

Kalen brushed past Steven, clapping him on the shoulder as he went by. “You can just sit back and let us take a look around, Mister Waxman. We’re just checking for Burnsides.”

Steven dropped his pencil on his notebook as Kalen sifted through the piled scrap wood in the back of the workshop.

“Again? Governor, it’s been weeks since the hanging, we haven’t heard anything.”

Kalen was now opening cabinets and peering under work tables.

“And yet, it remains my duty to ensure the safety of the people of this town, so, Mister Waxman,” Kalen slammed a cabinet door shut and crowded Steven against the table, “Do not interfere, or there might be consequences you won’t like! Am I making myself clear?”

Steven clenched his jaw, but nodded. With that, Kalen stepped back and swept out of the room.

Magnus heard the slam from the other room and flinched, biting down harder on his knuckles. He tried not to focus on the voice of the governor in the room over, tried to fight the memories threatening to overtake his mind, tried to not make a sound-

_Magnus didn’t say anything, his eyes sliding away from the man in front of him. With a fluid movement, Kalen reversed the dagger and whipped Magnus in the head with a pommel._

_Magnus gasped, and when his eyes focused again, the dagger was back, the tip pressing into the skin just above his left eyebrow. The tip carefully cut into skin, and Magnus felt more than saw a drop of blood run down his cheek._

_“Last chance,” Kalen warned. “Names. Now.”_

_Magnus sneered. “Fuck you!”_

_Kalen’s face twisted with rage, and that was the last thing Magnus saw. The dagger dug in harder, and then ripped down over his eye._

_Magnus wailed, and Kalen released him, letting him fall to his knees, his wrists still bound in chains._

_Magnus reached for his face as best as he could but was stopped by the manacles, fighting the blinding pain. He couldn’t actually reach his face, but as near as he could tell, his eye was still there, but his only evidence was that he couldn’t see it lying on the ground in front of him, and his vision was rapidly blurring._

Magnus bit down so hard that he tasted blood, and then all he could focus on was the taste of warm iron in his mouth and the voice, that damned voice, and then he saw the knife coming down again-

_Magnus came to with a shout, cold water washing over him. He hung limply from the chains, gasping, the left side of his face seemingly on fire. On instinct, he reached for the injury, but Kalen tutted, and marched right on up to him. Magnus tried to jerk away, but Kalen slapped him, right across the aching cut. Magnus bit back a moan, and Kalen grabbed his chin in one hand and yanked his head down._

_“You will tell me what I need to know,” he said, voice so low it was almost a growl._

_Magnus said nothing and tried to turn away. Kalen punched him, hard, splitting Magnus’s lip and filling his mouth with blood. He released Magnus, and he sagged against the chains, looking over the ground. His left eye was so swollen that he couldn’t see out of it, and without being able to touch it he had no idea if it was even there at all. The damp and filthy floor showed nothing out of the ordinary, so Magnus knew his eye was still intact. At least, he hoped.  
In front of him, Kalen scoffed._

_“And somehow, this was the great and mighty leader of the resistance that caused me so much goddamn trouble.” He spat the last word at Magnus before turning away. He took the torch with him and walked out of the cell, leaving Magnus to the dark and his pain._

Magnus squeezed his eyes shut, but that couldn’t stop the memories from flooding back, threatening to overwhelm him. It was so dark beneath the counter, so dark hat Magnus had a hard time remembering if he was in the Hammer and Tongs or if he was still trapped in that cell, waiting for the next day, waiting for men to take him away to be _killed_ , waiting to see if Kalen would return with the knife, _waiting for the next cut_ , waiting for the knife to rip down, waiting to see if he lost an _eye_ , waiting to loose consciousness, waiting for the darkness, waiting for the pain, waiting for the knife waiting for the cut the cut _the cut_ the knife the flash of silver _the pain_ the cut the pain the blood trickling into his eye the _knife_ digging in the _drag_ the cut the _blood_ _the pain the cut his eye the knife-_

Something soft nudged at his hand.

That wasn’t right, there was nothing soft in that cell.

The soft thing nudged his hand again, and it was warm. Warm and soft.

A wet panting sound broke through the darkness, and then another nudge.

Faintly, in the far reaches of Magnus’s consciousness, he was aware of the door closing and Julia’s last angry retorts.

The nudge came again, and this time, it was damp. And then warm and wet.

Magnus slowly opened his eyes to see Hunter, his head stuck under the curtain, panting at him, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He nosed at Magnus’s hand where it was clenched on his knee, and then licked it. When the dog saw Magnus lift his head, his tail wagged, thump-thump-thumping against the wall. Shakily, Magnus lifted his hand and pet the dog between his ears.

Overwhelmed at this show of affection, Hunter surged forward and licked at Magnus’s face, over his nose and cheeks and eyes- _eyes_ , plural.

Magnus felt around the still-healing cut, relieved when he could feel that his left eye was in fact, still there. Wrapping his arms around Hunter’s neck, he allowed himself to shakily breathe for a few moments, inhaling warm dog scent and gathering himself.

Finally, he scooted out from under the counter and stood, facing Julia and Steven.

Both looked concerned, and Magnus hurriedly scrubbed dog slobber off his face. Hopefully, he hadn’t been crying.

“Well, that was something else, huh?” He tried for his usual enthusiastic self, but their frowns just got deeper.

Julia marched over to him and pulled him down into a tight hug, and she didn’t let go for a long while.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! Thank you for all your patience, and it means a lot to me to still have your support for this fic. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
> 
> One with the show!

Magnus glared up at him from his good eye. Kalen laughed. “And he fights on! Truly amazing. Such a shame that that powerful spirit will be extinguished in a day.”

He let his words hang in the air for a moment before sweeping up to Magnus.

“Yes, you see, because in a day, we will putting you to death in front of all your damn little friends. If you won’t tell us who they are, we can still make an example out of you.”

The flashbacks also carried on.

Magnus still awoke from sleep, gasping and heaving for breath, hands flying up to his face. Julia did her best to help, whispering soothing words and sweet nothings. Sometimes it worked to calm him, and he fell back asleep, clutching Julia as tightly to his chest as he dared. Other times he lay awake, staring at the ceiling until the dawn light began to illuminate the room, Julia curled against him.

Julia had her share of nightmares, horrible dreams where the explosion never happened and she watched the man she loved swinging from a noose, dreams where soldiers burst into the house, killing her father and lover in front of her, dreams where her mother joined Magnus on the gallows, dreams where Magnus died in the raid all those years ago.

The two of them did their best to comfort the other, Magnus running his fingers through Julia’s hair until she fell asleep, or the two of them whispering back and forth until sunrise.

Oftentimes, Julia could fall back asleep. Magnus often ended up working in the workshop until he was so tired he would almost fall asleep carving, other times he would skip sleeping altogether for a day until he was so exhausted he fell into bed, asleep immediately.

Those nights were better, because while he became more disoriented during the day, he didn’t dream.

The bags under his eyes grew heavier. Julia tried to talk to him about it, but he found himself brushing her off, making an excuse about a recent order and hiding himself away in the workshop.

While Magnus found himself confined to the house, Steven was his constant companion.

His mentor watched with growing concern as Magnus shrank into himself, the vibrant warrior becoming a shell of a man. It all bubbled to a head one morning as Steven handed Julia an order form for lumber at the lumberyard, and stepped into the workshop to find Magnus asleep at the bench, a wrecked looking block of wood in his hand, a chisel in the other.

Steven regarded the sleeping man for a moment before shaking his shoulder. Magnus stirred with a huff, blearily opening his eyes. He recognized his surroundings for a moment before abruptly sitting upright.

“Oh hell,” he said, replacing the chisel to its place on the counter, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep in here, sorry.”

Magnus looked genuinely apologetic, eyes flitting from side to side, never making direct contact with Steven’s gaze.

“‘S all right, son. C’mon, we’ve got a lot to get done today.”

Magnus stifled a yawn, but followed Steven to the pile of wood planks in the back of the shop. “So, we’ve got the table for the Petersons, and that’s been underway for about a week now, and not much else after that... Did we get an order in last night?”

Steven shook his head, pulling out a crooked plank that was more akin to a block of wood. “Not quite. All we’ve got besides the table is a few orders in for Jules, but she’s taking care of those. Nah, this one is a personal order, from me to you.”

With that, Steven hefted the plank into Magnus’s hands. He stumbled from the sudden weight, but quickly adjusted to it. Magnus took a moment to glance from Steven to the plank and back, all in rapid succession. “And what do you want me to do?”

Steven pulled out a stool from under the workbench, seating himself, gesturing for Magnus to do the same.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed all those nights where you don’t sleep, son. And I’ve also seen when you get all...” He made a complex gesture with his hands, “out of it.”

Magnus made a sound like he was about to say something, but Steven carried on, speaking over him.

“I know you’ve had a tough time over there, with him. And I know it isn’t easy to adjust back to being home. But I’ve also seen you pushing Julia out when she tries to talk to you about it, and son, not too many things make me angry, but seeing my girl get hurt is one of them.”

Instantly, Magnus sat up straight, all fire and insistence. Steven raised a calming hand.

“I know you aren’t meaning to do it, so I’ll forgive you this time. But if you aren’t going to talk it out, then you’re going to do something about it.” He gestured to the block of wood sitting at Magnus’s feet.

“You’re gonna take all that fear, and all that anger, and you’re gonna make something of it out of that wood.”

Steven hauled the block up onto the worktable and pressed a blade into Magnus’s hands. “Make me a rose,” he said, pointing at the block. Magnus just stared at it, and for a moment, Steven was afraid that Magnus was blanking out again, too caught up in his own memories to tune into the present. Blinking, confused, Magnus looked to Steven for guidance. Steven sat back down in his seat. “Magnus, tell me what you’re thinking and feeling right now,” he said.

Magnus studied the block for a moment, a hand absently drifting up to touch the edge of the scar that jutted out below his left eye. “Well,” he began hesitantly, “I’m thinking about how I gave Julia a carved rose after I met her. And now I’m worried that she won’t want me after the way I’ve been acting.”

Steven sighed through his nose. “Son, I’ll let you in on a secret: she keeps that rose on a shelf in her room. And she knows you’ve been acting this way because you haven’t been yourself. I’ve never seen her as smitten for somebody as she is for you.”

Magnus nodded absently, but Steven could tell that the admission had lifted some weight off those great shoulders. Steven leaned forwards, branding his elbows on his knees. “Remember when I told you about my wife?” Magnus didn’t say anything, but Steven carried on. “Doing this,” he gestured towards the block on the table, “helped me carry on. I took my pain and turned it into something productive. I made a life for myself and Jules. Look, Magnus, you’re a sensitive man, and that’s something we need more of. Don’t shut down, don’t shut it out. I know it’s hard, son, I really do,” Steven caught Magnus’s eye and held his gaze. “But don’t lose that. Pain isn’t weakness, because we can grow from it.”

He tilted his head towards the block again. “So, go on, tell me what you’re thinking about when you blank out.”

Magnus studied the block again, and Steven could see the change in his stance. He was taking this seriously.

“Kalen, he-“ Magnus felt his eyes close, tears threatening to escape from beneath his eyelids as he told the story. He let them.

_Magnus came to in complete darkness, his head aching something awful. His last memory was falling asleep in the bed in his apartment, Julia curled against his chest, and then- Cold panic flooded his veins as he recalled the men coming in through the window, ripping Julia away from him, fighting like hell, and then a heavy blow. Magnus tugged at the heavy manacles chaining him to the wall of the cell. It was in vain, because for all that he pulled, he still wouldn’t be able to escape the man advancing on him._

_“You’ve caused us quite a bit of trouble, you know,” the man said, half his face ensconced in shadows. A prim-and-proper accent that spoke of years of high-class education stretched certain vowels, almost making his voice a low purr in Magnus’s ears._

_“And you haven’t made it very easy for us to catch you and your... well, let’s call them friends, I suppose. But we have you now, and if you value your life, then you’ll tell me what I need to know.”_

_Magnus shook his head, eying the Mad Governor defiantly._

_“Won’t tell you shit,” he growled. Kalen regarded him for a moment before punching him in the eye with a gloved fist. Magnus gasped at the impact, his head jerking to the side. Before he could fully recover from the shock of the blow, another fist caught him on the jaw, knocking him to the side. Magnus lurched, dangling heavily on the chains that held his wrists._

_Kalen clicked his tongue as Magnus worked his jaw and blinked the stars out of his vision. A scraping sound caught Magnus’s attention, and when he looked back at Kalen, he had drawn a long dagger from a sheath at his side._

_“Now,” he said, almost conversationally, pacing a few steps back and forth in front of Magnus, “I really didn’t want it to get to this point. But,” at this, he gestured with the dagger at Magnus, “You and your friends have been incredibly uncooperative, so we really have no choice at this point.”_

_With that, as quick as a snake, he slashed out at Magnus’s legs with the dagger, leaving a long cut that split the fabric of his pants and the skin underneath. Magnus bit back a noise, not wanting to give Kalen the satisfaction._

_Kalen withdrew and went back to his pacing, leaving Magnus shifting where he stood._

_“You’re dedicated,” he said, smiling, still gesticulating with the dagger. “Dedication is good! It means that you’re a man who can be dependable, a man who can be loyal, a man who cares for his people.”_

_The dagger glinted in the torchlight of the cell, and next thing Magnus knew, a new cut was streaking across his chest._

_Once more, Kalen retreated, gazing almost fondly at the red tinge on the edge of his dagger._

_“You’re an admirable man, Magnus. A man with a moral code. Unfortunately,” Kalen hefted the dagger in his hand and rushed at Magnus, grabbing his hair and pinning him back against the wall of the cell by his hair._

_“_ That’s not what I am _,” Kalen hissed. A lock of his carefully maintained blond hair had fallen over his face, and his teeth were bared, gleaming like fangs in the torchlight. He looked absolutely unhinged, a wild man. When he spoke again, his voice was barely more that a whisper._

_“I want you to tell me what I’m asking for, Magnus. I’m running out of patience, you see, and I am a very patient man.”_

_He gripped Magnus’s hair tighter, and raised the dagger up, the pointed tip nearly level with Magnus’s eye._

_“I need you to tell me, Magnus: Who else is in your little rebellion?”_

_Magnus didn’t say anything, his eyes sliding away from the man in front of him. With a fluid movement, Kalen reversed the dagger and whipped Magnus in the head with a pommel._

_Magnus gasped, and when his eyes focused again, the dagger was back, the tip pressing into the skin just above his left eyebrow. The tip carefully cut into skin, and Magnus felt more than saw a drop of blood run down his cheek._

_“Last chance,” Kalen warned. “Names. Now.”_

_Magnus sneered. “Fuck you!”_

_Kalen’s face twisted with rage, and that was the last thing Magnus saw. The dagger dug in harder, and then ripped down over his eye._

_Magnus wailed, and Kalen released him, letting him fall to his knees, his wrists still bound in chains._

_Magnus reached for his face as best as he could but was stopped by the manacles, fighting the blinding pain. He couldn’t actually reach his face, but as near as he could tell, his eye was still there, but his only evidence was that he couldn’t see it lying on the ground in front of him, and his vision was rapidly blurring._

_Blood ran down his face, dripping onto the floor, and as darkness began to obscure the edges of Magnus’s vision, he was the vague shape of Kalen standing over him._

_“Pathetic,” he sneered, and raised his boot, lashing out at Magnus in a vicious kick._

_Magnus came to with a shout, cold water washing over him. He hung limply from the chains, gasping, the left side of his face seemingly on fire. On instinct, he reached for the injury, but Kalen tutted, and marched right on up to him. Magnus tried to jerk away, but Kalen slapped him, right across the aching cut. Magnus bit back a moan, and Kalen grabbed his chin in one hand and yanked his head down._

_“You will tell me what I need to know,” he said, voice so low it was almost a growl._

_Magnus said nothing and tried to turn away. Kalen punched him, hard, splitting Magnus’s lip and filling his mouth with blood. He released Magnus, and he sagged against the chains, looking over the ground. His left eye was so swollen that he couldn’t see out of it, and without being able to touch it he had no idea if it was even there at all. The damp and filthy floor showed nothing out of the ordinary, so Magnus knew his eye was still intact. At least, he hoped._

_In front of him, Kalen scoffed._

_“And somehow, this was the great and mighty leader of the resistance that caused me so much goddamn_ trouble _.” He spat the last word at Magnus before turning away. He took the torch with him and walked out of the cell, leaving Magnus to the dark and his pain._

_Kalen left him alone for what seemed like ages after that. Occasionally, a guard or two would come down and beat him, fists pummeling his chest and stomach, leaving bruises that Magnus could tell reached his ribs, his entire body aching. They gave him no food, and the only water he was given came to him when they dumped freezing cold water on him when they woke him up. They never let him sleep for very long._

_After what seemed to be days in the darkness, Kalen came to him one more time._

_“I see that you’re still alive,” he said, tone conversational, as if he was commenting on no more than the weather. “Surprising. I figured you would have given up a while ago.”_

_Magnus glared up at him from his good eye. Kalen laughed. “And he fights on! Truly amazing. Such a shame that that powerful spirit will be extinguished in a day.”_

_He let his words hang in the air for a moment before sweeping up to Magnus._

_“Yes, you see, because in a day, we will putting you to death in front of all your damn little friends. If you won’t tell us who they are, we can still make an example out of you.” He patted Magnus roughly on the cheek, more of a slap. “So enjoy your last hours,” he said, turning to leave, “because they’ll be all you’re getting!”_

_Sometime after that, Magnus fell into an uneasy sleep. He was later awakened by rough jostling and the sensation of a hood being pulled over his head. He was walked along by Kalen’s men for a while before someone ripped the hood off, bright light sending stabbing pain through his eyes. He was on the gallows in the town center, the population of Raven’s Roost staring up at him in horror._

Magnus talked through the story, tears now freely streaming down his face. As he talked, Steven encouraged him to carve with the blade. His body moved automatically, raising the blade and slashing down at the block as if he held his axe instead of carving delicately. Steven took a cautionary step back, but continued talking, urging Magnus on as he talked, hacking at the wood, carving great gouges out. Eventually, the story came to an end, and Magnus dropped the blade, clattering to the ground. He sank to his knees, muffling his great sobs into his hands. Steven was quick to step up, placing a soothing hand on the younger man’s shoulder.

“Easy, son,” he murmured. “It’s okay. You’re here now, it’s okay.”

Eventually, the sobs quieted, and then stopped. Magnus sat on the floor of the workshop in a pile of curls of wood and wood shavings. He absently stared at the block, less of a block now, and more a lump of wood, the outer layers cut off in rough, choppy gouges across the surface. Steven examined the wood, hand still on Magnus’s shoulder.

“It’s got a beautiful grain,” he murmured. “Got the potential to be something beautiful, don’t you agree?”

Slowly, Magnus nodded. He looked up at Steven. “What now,” he asked, voice raspy.

Steven shrugged. “Now,” he said, hearing Julia’s return from the lumberyard, “you make something of it, and go to sleep. Or sleep first, I don’t really care which as long as it happens at some point.”

He squeezed Magnus’s shoulder, reaching for the door. “Proud of you, son. Never forget that.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I know I’ve been gone for a while now, and I’m really sorry about that! 
> 
> This is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I needed to take a break from it. I also ran out of chapters that I had written already, so that didn’t help when my focus shifted away from TAZ. I got into other stuff for a while, mainly Critical Role. And then something not-so-chill happened (I’m sure you can guess what I’m talking about) and I’m now taking a break for a while from that to let my heart heal, and now I’m back into TAZ. I continued my break to try MT hand at writing some stuff other than Mags and Jules, and I’m pretty pleased at how that turned out. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you for my returning readers for, well, returning and sticking with me on this very unexpected hiatus! And for new readers, welcome! I love all of you. 
> 
> The update schedule is gonna be a little different. I’m still gonna post on Monday’s, but instead of every week it’ll be every-other week now. This is to give myself more time to write and make better stuff rather than churning stuff out that I’m not as proud of. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience! 
> 
> On with the show!

One bright afternoon, a sealed envelope slipped under the door to the Hammer and Tongs. It was an ordinary envelope, no special markings or anything to denote it was anything but perhaps an order form for furniture or horseshoes, or perhaps even payment for a certain order.

No, what made it strange was the magic that buzzed around the envelope, an enchantment layered so thickly that the air around it seemed to quiver and shift, like the heat waves above the pavement in the summer.

  
Julia stepped out of the workshop, brushing sawdust from her apron, and promptly slipped, her foot skidding on the envelope along the polished wood floors. Gathering herself up, she picked up the offending item, feeling the magic dancing around. She pressed it to her cheek, and the spell fell off, and she opened it with no problems. Inside was a hastily scrawled note, the handwriting thick, with ink splatters speckling the page, as if whoever wrote the note only cared about getting the message across as soon as possible.

Stepping into the kitchen, frowning, Julia read the letter, and re-read it again. She crumpled it into her pocket and swept up the stairs, barging into her own room, slamming the door open.

Perhaps that was a mistake, because Magnus shot bolt upright from where he had previously been sleeping uninterrupted for the first time in a few days.

“Magnus, I need you to read this, and tell me I’m not imagining this.”

Blearily, Magnus tossed the blankets away from him, and accepted the letter. He too had to re-read it a few times to comprehend what was going on. He blinked up at Julia.

“So, your spies say that one of Kalen’s wagons made it back burnt to hell, with most of the men missing, and a bunch of neat stuff in the back? And that Kalen left on a similar wagon with a fleet of men two says ago?”

Julia folded the letter up again, rubbing her eyes in thought. “That’s what he says,” she agreed. “But it seems too good to be true; Kalen has no reason to just up and leave out of the blue.”

Magnus scratched at his sideburns absently. “Remember that time we snuck into the manor? And we listened in on his conversation with the other guy?”

Julia raised an eyebrow, ready to hear where he was going with this. “He told that mercenary to take a fleet of wagons down to some small town. To do something to it before he did something himself. Maybe this is something similar.”

Julia gnawed the inside of her cheek. “I think you’re on to something, Mags. But I think we should check out the wagon that just came back first, check what exactly happened, try and work it out from there. Tonight, maybe.” She shot Magnus a look out of the corner of her eye, looking him over. “Would you be able to handle it? Can you handle it? You haven’t been very... well, you’ve hit a rough patch, and I don’t want to strain you before you’re ready to get back on your feet.”

Magnus pushed himself up from bed and walked over, pulling Julia into his arms.

“Jules,” he said softly, “I’m good. I can do this. Trust me,” he said earnestly, eyes boring into hers. “Okay,” she said softly. “Okay.” She kissed him then, gently.

Once the moon rose, high above the cliffs, they left, dark hoods and cloaks pulled around their heads, scarfs around their faces. Even with Kalen gone, they couldn’t afford to be seen by anyone.

They made their way around town, slipping into back alleys and crouching in the shadows. They made their way up to the path towards the manor, traipsing through the woods, towards the shed where Kalen kept his fleet of wagons on the outskirts of the manor grounds. Somehow, it was unguarded, but Julia just assumed that most of the guards would be concentrated on the manor, vulnerable with Kalen gone.

The wagon in question was near the back of the rows of carts, but easy to find since it was nearly blackened, with the canvas cover nearly missing, all but hanging on by a thread. The moon reached its apex as they began to investigate.

Magnus yanked out an arrow that was embedded in the side of the cart, taking note of the feathers in the fletching. The tip was made of fine iron, made of a certain kind of steel that was abundant in a mining town about a week’s travel away. The canvas was burnt, almost completely gone, and there were deep slashes in the wood of the cart, likely from a blade of some kind. On one slash mark was a splattered arc of deep red, soaked into the wood. Stepping back, Magnus could picture the blow that dealt the damage. Only question was, did it come from friend or foe? Was the cart used as a backdrop to execution, or did something set upon the cart, killing the mercenaries?

Julia climbed inside the cart and began inspecting the interior. The letter mentioned large vases of iron and clay studded with precious jewels being hauled out of the back of the cart, and some chests of coins and jewelry being carried into the manor. There were scuffs in the wooden floor, almost like gauges. She could imagine goods being thrown hastily in the back of the cart, without a care in the world for damaging them, just as long as the end results made their way back to Kalen. Her informant listed some of the items recovered being smaller items of jewelry and coins, rings and necklaces and small copper pieces. There had to be some small items that had slipped through the cracks somewhere, something that the mercenaries had missed, something that explained the situation a bit better than the absolute nothing that they had.

Crawling on her hands and knees, Julia felt around the bottom of the cart, until- there! Something metal was lodged in between two planks. Pulling out her pocket knife, she carefully wedged it lose, revealing a ring. The band was dark and glassy, almost like a finely polished stone. On top was a thick piece of gold, about the size of a copper coin, stamped flat and engraved with something. Julia inspected it in the moonlight, to reveal the engraving was supplemented with several tiny gemstones, just enough to give the engraved images some color. It was a family crest, belonging to someone who had lived in a certain area long enough to be of enough importance and prestige to have a family crest. Carefully setting the ring aside, Julia climbed out of the wagon and onto the ground, feeling around for something besides the grass and dirt.

Lo and behold, soon she came up with a copper coin, engraved with the value of the coin and the date it was made. She grabbed the copper and the ring and showed them to Magnus, who showed her the arrow.

“I don’t have as much metalworking experience as you do,” he said, thumbing the tip of the arrowhead, “but I know this is a different type of steel than what you use. Do you know where it came from?” After a quick examination, Julia did know where it came from. There was a mining town, about four days travel from Raven’s Roost. The town boasted being blessed by one of the dwarfish gods in the early days of it’s creation, and the main export was a specially treated steel that was more durable than normal, with a finer finish to it. The town had been around for maybe a century, with it’s own rudimentary government, including nobles who profited from owning certain portions of the mine. Julia felt the blood drain from her face as she wrapped her fingers around the ring with the family crest.

“It’s from Tnesnoc,” she whispered. “He sent men to raid and plunder Tnesnoc.”

Julia grabbed Magnus’ arms, shaking them in her urgency to make him understand. “Magnus, he’s trying to expand, to conquer! He’s probably out there, right now, putting all those people under his thumb as we speak-“

Julia was cut off with a shout and a distant plume of flame.

“Hey! What are you doing here! Who are you?”

Across the yard, a patrol of mercenaries marched towards them. Julia felt Magnus stiffen beside her, and she grabbed his hand and yanked, urging him forwards, turning to run into the dark.

The two ran, sprinting into the woods, uncaring of the branches that whipped at their faces and thickets that ripped at their clothes and snared their feet. Julia panted as she ran, ignoring the shouts behind her. Beside her, Magnus was almost hyperventilating, and Julia could almost see his mind threatening to envelope him in memories. She needed him to get a handle on his situation as fast as he could, but that was hard to do when he was fighting panic and fleeing soldiers.

After what seemed like a century of running, the two of them made it into town. Julia skidded to a stop in the town square, frantically looking for a back alley to hide in. She found one, wedged between the bakery and the pawn shop, behind rain barrels. She pushed Magnus in and shoved herself down, squeezing close to him in the tight space.

He was almost curled up on himself, and Julia carefully lifted his eyes to meet hers with a hand under his chin. His eyes were far away and so unlike the man she knew. She gently kissed him on his forehead, and his minute shivers stopped.

“Jules?” He croaked, hesitantly. She squeezed his hand, smiled at him.

“Heya, Bear. Gotta stay with me, I need you here for now, okay?” Magnus nodded, and pressed a kiss to her palm.

In the town square, torchlight and shouts gradually filled the space as the patrol headed towards the Technology Corridor, one voice crying out, “They went for the bridge!”

Eventually, the lights and noise faded, and then Julia and Magnus were left in the silence.

Julia stood, dusting herself off, and reached a hand down to Magnus to help him to his feet. He took it, and she didn’t miss the reverent look in his eyes.

“What?” She chuckled a little bit. “I know I’m pretty cool for doing all this, but you’re looking at me like I’m a queen or something.”

He just smiled, softly, and it was one of those smiles that Julia felt in her soul, the ones that made her heart flip-flop and melt.

“I love you, Julia.”

Julia felt her breath catch in her throat. She turned, only barely meeting his gaze.

“What?”

Magnus just smiled again.

“I said I love you. And I’ve been meaning to say it for a while now, but it’s never been right, and I just- I realized that it’s ever going to be right, because that’s just how things are, but I can do it now and- I’m in love with you, Julia Waxman, and I’ll always be in love with you.”

Before she could overthink, Julia rushed him, kissing him, pulling him into her. She sighed into his neck, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

“I love you too, Magnus Burnsides.” She couldn’t stop herself from adding, “Forever and always.”

And deep in her soul, she knew it was true.

Forever and always, Julia Waxman and Magnus Burnsides would love each other, no matter what may come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you can! Thanks for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do a hit, and I'm very sorry for that, but in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter that much? The ending is drawing closer, now...

The sun rose that day on Raven’s Roost in a lazy fog, obscuring the streets and muffling all the sound that came from the town as it began to wake and go about the morning.   
  
The slight chill in the air was lost on Magnus and Julia, who sat in the kitchen, trying to puzzle out the reasoning for Kalen’s attack on the nearby mining town. Magnus paced the length of the room and back, tossing out theories as they came to him while Julia sat at the kitchen table, a long-abandoned cup of tea sat at her side as she idly spun the ring bearing the family crest in her fingers.   
  
“Maybe someone from Tnesnoc attacked him first? I mean, since he’s a giant dick, maybe someone’s asshole radar was going off and they-“ he mimed hitting something with a club, making an explosion sound effect as he did. “Or maybe he wanted more iron for his men to make weapons and they refused to give it to him for free so he lost his shit and ordered an attack- that one is more plausible, actually.”   
  
Julia heaved a sigh from where she sat, leaning her head forward onto one arm and combing her through her hair with her other hand. The ring lay on the table where it glinted in the early morning light filtering in through the window.   
  
“He’s supposed to be coming back in a day, we won’t have any more time to go and investigate, especially if his men are on the lookout for people snooping around the manor. And I can’t help but wonder if this is the first time that he’s done something like this.”   
  
Magnus paused in his pacing. “Do you think he would have any records of stuff like that in his manor? Could the informants get to it soon, send word or copies back?”   
  
Julia’s eyes lit up. She rushed from her seat, taking her time to grab Magnus’ face and pull him down to kiss his forehead. “Mags, you genius man!” She shouted, before running out the back door to the forge, where she kept most of her supplies for contacting her spies in the manor.   
  
Carefully reaching into a crate of iron nails, she pulled out a Stone of Farspeech and murmured urgently into it. A moment later, the stone glowed a brilliant blue, and the voice of her informant filled the room. In a hushed tone, they assured her that within the day they would have copies of all of Kalen’s records sent to her. Thanking them, Julia replaced the stone and started firing up the forge. Before sundown, she would have somewhere to start looking.   
  
Around mid afternoon, Steven returned home from the market, carrying the usual load of groceries and an envelope that hummed with magic.   
  
“Jules,” he called, shutting the door with his foot and handing a package of meat to Magnus, “you’ve got mail!”   
  
Thundering footsteps pounded down the upstairs hall and down the stairs as Julia all but flung herself at the proffered envelope.   
  
“Thank, dad,” she murmured, ignoring him when he gestured for her to help with the groceries. She waved him off, instead tearing into the envelope and dissipating the magic. A thick stack of papers fell out, and she immediately began spreading them out on the kitchen table, looking for dates. She found one, dated to just a week before the current date. It was a short note, written in Kalen’s looping script.   
  
_Sent A. Wilson’s squad to Tnesnoc. Let’s hope they bring back something good.  
_  
So, he did keep records of where he sent his men. Julia assumed it was so he could keep track of where they were and what they were supposed to be doing at any given moment, and so he would know which men were available at a time. At least, thats what she would do. Julia set aside the top document, and dove deeper into the pile.   
  
It was dry work, even with Magnus joining her after helping Steven around the house. Most of the papers were financial records, documenting everything from hiring more mercenaries to the festival thrown earlier in the spring to household expenses, wages for servants and grocery bills and the like.   
  
It wasn’t until several months back in the documents that Julia noticed that he sent his men to a village off the coast, with special instructions to have them bring him “all the silver the carts could carry”.   
  
“Mags,” she said, showing him the paper, “look for everything you can find relating to silver, this village, or around these dates.” Magnus eagerly complied, leafing through papers. Within a few minutes, he held a small stack.   
  
“I found these,” he said, pointing to certain lines on the papers. “So, he sent them out on this day, told them to get silver, and then they were back about two weeks later. Then his funds were increased by about two-thousand silver pieces the next day. And then, about a week after that, he’s got a letter here written by,” he squinted at the paper for a moment, “it looks like one of his lieutenants wrote a letter saying that the elder in town died, and that, ‘they’re ready for him’.”   
  
Julia paused, taking it all in. “So, he sent his men to loot the town, they came back and he took the money, which isn’t all that surprising, but then a month later he went back? Any idea why?”   
  
Magnus shrugged. They set the stack aside and kept looking for anything of importance. The documents went back months, and then a year. Still, they searched. It wasn’t until about two years back that they found something else, dated right before Magnus arrived. It was rushed, with all the details right on the page, ink spattered and dripped along the page. Kalen had sent his men to try and raid a logging town on the edge of the Northern Gulch, requesting they bring gold and magic items back. The note ended almost abruptly, considering Kalen’s way of rambling towards the point of anything.   
  
_The woodland elves drove my men back, and slaughtered many of my men. They aren’t ready for me to guide them yet.  
  
_ A sick feeling rose up in the pit of Julia’s stomach. What could he possibly mean by ‘guiding them’? It seemed that it was part of his pattern to set up a base in a town he already conquered, and then send out more raiding parties once he was established. It seemed... strangely coincidental that he arrived in Raven’s Roost no more than a year after it was attacked by the band of raiders, even though they drove the marauders off.   
  
“Hey, Magnus, see if you can find anything dated to about three years ago, around the spring.” He quickly leafed through a pile and handed her a small stack of pages. “Find something?”   
  
“Maybe,” she replied, still fighting her gut feelings. “I just need to check something.”   
  
She quickly read through the documents, scanning for any mention of her town. As she neared the documents dated nearer the spring, the dread in her throat rose higher and higher, until-   
  
There it was.   
  
Three years ago, while in a town up in the mountains, Kalen ordered a raid on Raven’s Roost. They were driven back by the townspeople, but not before retrieving many goods and treasure, and killing many of the civilians. A month later, the old governor died of a heart attack. After nearly a year of being tossed from one aging political figure to another, Kalen arrived, prepared to guide the citizens of Raven’s Roost into a new era of prosperity and production.   
  
Julia froze. Dropped the papers. Stood from the table.   
  
“Jules,” she weakly heard Magnus call after her. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d walked away from the table. He was a smart man, she reflected. Surely he’d figured out what happened.   
  
There are a few kinds of secrets in the world. Some are so deeply kept that they are never, ever meant to see the light of day. Some are common, little secrets, like the hiding place where her father used to stash chocolate away from her when she was small. Some secrets are openly kept, openly discussed, secret only for the fact that nobody has done anything to change it.   
  
Then there are some kinds of secrets that become true and not-secret the moment that they are uttered out loud. The kind of secrets that have the rare power to completely unravel the reality of whatever part of existence that they preside in. The kind of secrets that break someone, break everything.   
  
Julia now kept that kind of secret.  
  
 _Her mother looked down at the fletching protruding from her chest, seemingly surprised at how it got there. She reached up to touch it, maybe to pull it out, to stroke the feathers on the end, anything- but before she could do that, a second arrow sank into her sternum.  
_  
Julia played with the idea in her mind, not daring to say it out loud.   
  
‘ _Kalen killed my mother_ ,’ she thought. It was- it was right, factually, grounded in reality, but just the idea of it seemed so very, very wrong. In her mind, her life was in two parts- Before Kalen, and After Kalen. The distinction seemed very clear in her mind, as separate as night an day, but now, considering that they were all the very same, bridged together by the very thing that seemed to separate them-   
  
__As Julia’s mother collapsed, Julia screamed. It was an awful shriek, one that wouldn’t seem possible for her to produce.  
  
She was hardly aware of Magnus’ broad hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him.   
  
“Jules,” he was begging, pleading, “please tell me. Come back to me, talk to me.”   
  
With great effort, Julia met his eyes with her own. They were so warm, so kind, so accepting, all she wanted to do was sink into their depths for the rest of her life and not have to deal with the shattering of her reality.   
  
“Kalen ordered the raid on Raven’s Roost. Kalen killed my mother.”   
  
Magnus recoiled, eyes wide. “Oh, gods, Julia, I-“   
  
She took a deep breath. And another. And another. Maybe, if she could keep breathing, her plane of existence wouldn’t burst apart at the seams at any moment.   
  
In the background, someone knocked on the door.   
  
Steven, unaware of the unraveling of reality in his kitchen, answered the door, opening it to reveal Selsel. The young orc was panting, out of breath, leaning on the doorframe.   
  
“Mr. Waxman,” he panted, “I’ve got some bad news for Julia.”   
  
On autopilot, Julia turned to address the newcomer in the kitchen. Selsel wrung his hands, shifting from floor to foot as he caught his breath. He seemed to search for his words for a moment, before saying, “The Herbalist’s just been taken. They burned her house and shop. I ran here as fast as I could to tell you.”   
  
At first, Julia seemed unaware of the news. Then, she nodded, politely dismissing Selsel. Steven, sensing something amiss with his daughter, wrapped an arm around the boy, pulling him close and out of the kitchen.   
  
Julia stood stone-still for a moment, trying to process everything that happened.   
  
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.   
  
Tears began to roll down her face, and at first, she sniffled, ineffectually wiping at them with her hands and sleeves. Then, she began to hiccup, gasping for breath until it turned into great sobs that she tried to stifle, burying her face in her hands. It grew until she leaned forwards, arms wrapped around her middle as she wailed, sobbing and crying, sound escaping her in either great heaving sobs or high-pitched whines.   
  
She had failed. She had failed to save her mother on that day, failed to stop a tyrant from taking over her community, failed to keep her family and her people safe, failed to prevent more of her people from being taken, failed to protect her lover from harm, failed to save the people in the other towns who were just as oppressed as they were, failed, failed, failed, failed- She had failed, and now it was more than herself and her cause, now it was other communities who were suffering because of her failure.   
  
She sank to the floor, wailing and keening.   
  
Beside her, Magnus followed her down, wrapping her up in his arms, rubbing his hands across her back, her arms, her shoulders. This was the woman he loved, and he would do anything to protect her from the harm that had come to her, and any harm that may come in the future. He told her as much, whispering reassurances and small sweet nothings in her ear. His heart ached, and he longed to take on her pain for her. She was his everything, and he would die for her if it meant that she could live free of the turmoil she felt.   
  
In the end, Magnus held her until her sobs faded into whimpers, her whimpers into whispers, still blaming herself for a failure that didn’t rest solely on her shoulders, blaming herself for the actions of a crazed tyrant. He held her until her whispers faded into soft breaths, warm on his neck, and he held her as he carried her up the stairs, tucked her into the bed they shared, and he curled around her, hoping that he might be able to protect her from nightmares. He fell asleep as the sun set, hands threading through her hair, whispering into her neck, “I love you, Julia.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please comment if you can, nothing makes my day more than seeing a new comment!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, we’re a lot closer to the end than I thought. Thank you for sticking with me on this wild ride! I love all of you. 
> 
> On with the show!

The following day, Julia awoke before the sun rose, her mind a peculiar mix of racing and dead still. It was as if every thought of hers was frozen in time, in perfect clarity.

 

She knew what she had to do, even if it killed her.

 

She had to find a way to stop Kalen.

 

She slipped out of bed, away from the tempting warmth of Magnus, and out the bedroom door, leaving it open behind her. From there she pulled on her shoes and let herself out into the backyard, Hunter plodding along behind her and eagerly sniffing the grass. From there, she let herself into the forge, digging into a box of welding tools until she found what she was looking for: her Stone of Farspeech. When the stone began to glow, she carried on the news to her spies inside Kalen’s manor, giving them careful instructions.

 

After what felt like hours later, she ended the conversation and made her way back into the house, and put a pot of coffee on, just as the sun began to rise. Eventually, lured by the smell of coffee, Magnus made his way down to join her.

 

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, hands on his hips, frowning.

 

“Jules,” he sighed, “what are you doing? Come back to bed, its too goddamn early.”

 

From her seat at the table, Julia shook her head. “Couldn’t sleep,” she murmured. Magnus’s face crumpled with concern, and he made his way over to the table where she was sitting. As he took a seat next to her, he could see the white-knuckled grip she had on her mug, and how her hands shook ever so minutely.

 

“Can’t sleep,” she repeated, taking a sip. “There’s too much to do.”

 

When she didn’t explain further, Magnus began to get really concerned.

 

“What do you mean there’s too much to do,” he asked, tilting his head.

 

Julia took a long drink, and set the mug down, clenching her fists to stop them from trembling. Eventually, she spoke.

 

“We have to do something,” she said, turning to face Magnus fully. “We figured out what he’s doing, what he’s done, and- and I just can’t live with myself if we wait any longer than we have. He-“ she broke off, fighting back the tremble in her voice that threatened to break through with every word. “He’s taken so much, Magnus. Not only from me, not only from this town, but from every single person he’s hurt. He takes, and he takes, and-“ She took a deep breath, “and it’s time to do something to stop him, once and for all.”

 

Magnus sat back in his seat, thinking it over, but he took one of Julia’s hands in his, rubbing gentle circles into the back of her hand with his thumb. Her reasoning was sound, but she had just received a serious shock yesterday, and she hadn’t had much sleep. Julia was prone to overthinking, and the fact that she seemed to have a plan ready to go less than a full day after a huge revelation didn’t bode well for Julia or the cause. They hadn’t been wiped out yet, because they were careful. And this plan that she seemed to have seemed rushed, something more his style.

 

Nevertheless, Julia had made it this far without his input for more than half of the fight. She didn’t need his input very much, she needed his support.

 

So, with a deep breath, Magnus leaned forwards, and said: “Tell me what I need to do.”

 

First, they pulled out the old roadblock from where it sat gathering dust in the forge. Less than an hour later, one of the few uncaptured spellcasters arrived, and copied the roadblock, making duplicate after duplicate. In the time it took for the spellcaster to arrive, Julia prepped Steven for the plan, and sent Selsel out to spread the word to every active member of the Rebellion. By the time the sun had set and patrols had returned to the Manor for the patrol shift, every Rebellion member was sneaking up the road or through the woods, carts carrying furniture and duplicate roadblocks, some enchanted to grow to thrice their size, others filled with quickly improvised weapons; kitchen knives and whittled spears and arrows, bags filled with spell components and healing potions and all the food and supplies they would need.

 

Then, in the cover of darkness, before the next rotation of patrols could leave the Manor, they set up the barricade as best as they could, the roadblocks forming a barrier further up the road to protect the barricade from assault on foot or wagon or horseback.

 

They piled up furniture as tall as they could, making a platform of tables to make a place to either speak from or fire from. Magnus heaved wardrobes and tables and bed frames into place while Julia moved crates of food down into a protected place behind their wagons. Magnus did his best to transform an umbrella stand into a makeshift weapons rack. Julia distributed pokers and hammers from the forge out to those who would make the best use of them. Magnus moved a chair into position at the end of the barricade, and to his shock, he recognized it as one of the chairs that Steven had his practice his measuring and cutting on.

 

Neither Magnus or Julia expected the tools of their trades to be used as weapons in a battle that was so much bigger than the two of them.

 

All too soon, the incoming patrol left the manor. They all watched with baited breath as the group of mercenaries grew closer, saw the mass before them, and turned on their heel to return to Kalen and report.

 

Julia decided that now was the best time to say something. She took her place on the platform of the barricade, and turned to address her people. Magnus took his place at her right below her, her father on the left.

 

As Julia looked over the crowd of people in front of her, all her people, all willing to die fighting than to let this go on for more than another day, for more than another life to be taken, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that her mind blanked. She stared out at the crowd, all awaiting her words, all well aware of the ticking seconds before the fight began in earnest.

 

Below her, she felt a nudge on her leg. Magnus looks up at her, and she remembered why she was doing this. Not only for her people and all the people around her, for her community and the communities around her, but for her own future. A future where she could live with the man she loved, where she could raise a family, a future where she didn’t live in fear of death and torment. A future for her, and her people.

 

“We all know why it’s come to this,” she began. “We’ve lived for far too long in fear of that tyrant!” She pointed back towards the manor, where torchlight was gathering. At the front of the crowd, she could see the flames flickering off Kalen’s golden hair, and she gritted her teeth. “He has killed, tortured, and stolen from us. We’ve been in fear for years, scared for out lives and wellbeing in our own homes, all because of this one man! And we aren’t the only ones. Thousands more, just like us, have had their lives ruined. But we can stop it! We can put an end to this! No more hiding in the shadows, no more playing at spies, hoping to do some good with more risk than reward. No, today we take the fight to him!”

 

She raised one of her axes over her head. “Today, we fight for our people, we fight for _justice_! For our _freedom_!”

 

A raucous cheer exploded from the group, and Julia shook her axe again. Magnus watched her, admiration pouring from every inch of his body. He was so in love with this woman.

 

Slowly, the torchlight moved closer to the barricade, and Julia turned to face it, pulling out her other axe. Kalen stood at the top of the hill, his voice booming out. Magnus wasn’t sure if it was magically amplified or not, but either way, Julia didn’t need that to reply.

 

“Waxman!” He shouted, nearly baring his teeth. “I should have known it was you.”

 

Julia grinned, a little maniac grin that set Magnus on edge. “It’s almost been too easy, Kalen,” she said, using one axe to point at him. “Too caught up in playing conqueror to look at the things under your nose!”

 

Kalen snarled at her. “Even killing off your loverboy couldn’t keep you down, I see,” he taunted.

 

Magnus couldn’t help himself. He stepped up onto the platform, his axe glinting in the torchlight, throwing dramatic shadows across his face.

 

“If you want to get to Julia, you’ll have to go through me,” he growled.

 

Kalen smiled. It was unsettling, in the same way that his fake politeness in the dungeons was unsettling. It was the veneer of control that a madman wore. He unsheathed a sword, holding it aloft and pointing with it in the same was that Julia was.

 

“Easily done,” he said, effortlessly twirling the blade. With that, he sauntered to the back of his men. When he was good and ready, obviously waiting for them to flinch, he raised the blade once again, and this time, they could clearly hear his words, even across the distance.

 

“Take them down!”

 

The mercenaries began to run, shouting and screaming.

 

“Brace yourselves,” Julia called over her shoulder. She turned to face Magnus, grinning at the face of danger in a way similar to someone Magnus must have known once. His head felt staticky, but he shook it away to grin back at Julia.

 

“Let’s tear them down,” she said. Magnus shifted his stance, hefting his axe. Besides, him, Julia did similar.

 

Deep down, this felt _right_ , facing down danger with his family, his people.

 

With his lover at his side and his family at his back, Magnus laughed at danger and rushed to meet the oncoming wave.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for all your support on this story, it means so much to me!


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